You're Not Real
by Ceilidh of One
Summary: Set sometime vaguely in 1st season. Two crazy vampire Digimon are going under disguise as lost digidestined, with plans to marry Matt and Tai! The problem? Tai and Matt might already have their own plans. SLASH AND VAMPIRES.
1. It BeGiNs

**First ever digimon fanfic...**

**DISCLAIMER:::**

**Izzy's hair's RED, Tai's shirt is BLUE. Me no own, so you no sue. Digimon stuff is owned by digimon... dur. I made up a couple digimon, Kyuuketsukimon and Chibikyuumon, but they're ripoffs too, so... yeah.**

**If you don't vampires or slash, this is NOT your story.**

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**CHAPTER ONE- TAI'S P.O.V**

Matt sighed almost unnoticeably, leaned back, and chewed on his lips. I knew that look, I knew what it meant was soon to come, but I never really understood the emotion behind it. Boredom? Anger? Depression? Unease? I never really understood the small ways he expressed himself. Not really. But it always meant that he would make a decision, and usually his decisions were selfish.

I sighed, leaned back, and chewed on my lips. Don't know whether I was trying to imitate him, mock him, or display empathy with him. Either way, our bodies mirrored each other's positions on opposite sides of the tree. But that was the only reflection. Matt was on the shadier side of the tree, with the thicker limbs. He clad his thin body in darker clothes, a deep green tank top with the loose collar and the deeper blue pants. His skin, so pale it looked almost unhealthy, made his hair look like a sunrise of blonde. Something about him gave off a distinct 'Goth' vibe, though there wasn't a scrap of black on him.

One the sunny side, I sported a nice soccer tan, a mop of shiny brown hair, and the tackiest shirt in existence (blue, yellow stripes all over it). My goggles held my hair up out of my eyes, except for that one pesky lump of it that tickled my nose 24/7. Baggy brown shorts, caked in dirt and mud from our journey through the Digital World, made me look like some lost tourist.

"Tai?" Matt asked softly. His voice had a ring to it, soft and deep like church bell in the distance. I don't know whether he intended it to sound creepy or not.

"Yeah?"

"We're lost, right?" I swallowed a laugh.

"When are we not?"

"When you're not leading the group." I turned over to glare at him. Nobody, and I mean nobody, insults my leadership. He was treading on dangerous ground. There was a smirk playing on his pale lips, and I knew he was joking, but I was still angry… because he was right.

I was busy thinking of a decent retort (one that wouldn't make me look retarded, like most of my retorts lately) when Mimi flounced her way up. She wore a dark pink dress and a cowboy hat, making her look like some deranged "old western movie" lass. Even her long brown hair and huge brown eyes perfected the look of "damsel in distress". Jeez, those were huge eyelashes. To make it more scary, her eyes were like that naturally.

"Hi, Matt! Hi, Tai!" Mimi sang.

"Hi, floo- Mimi," Matt mumbled. I didn't bother holding back my laugh. He was about to call her a floozy, for that is what she truly was. Only, this floozy's best friend was a talking plant that could have Matt for breakfast if he wasn't careful. I saw her cheeks puff up slightly in a rage, but she calmed herself as fast as lightening. The effect made her look kind of like a big, pink bullfrog croaking, and I laughed even more.

"Oh, be quiet!" Mimi snapped. She was having a little trouble keeping her cool today. I suspected PMS to be at work, so I shut up fast. If I've learned anything in the Digital World, it's that girls with PMS can be a force to reckon with. Mimi's grimace shifted into a very fake 'doe eyes' look. She leaned forward over me, almost pressing my face into her small chest. "We're running a little low on firewood. Would you big, strong boys go get some for me?" Her eyelids batted so quickly, I could have sworn there was a little machine in them that did the batting for her. She only acted that sluttish when she really wanted somebody else to do some dirty work for her.

"Yeah, Tai, you're big and strong. Help the little lady," Matt smirked, giving me the dirtiest look I had ever seen. His blue eyes seemed to glow in the shadows.

"Me? No, no, look at me, I'm scrawny. If she wants some buff guy to pick up toothpicks for her, you're the man." Never mind the fact that I was an easy thirty pounds heavier than Matt.

"I think we need two armloads full," Mimi said meaningfully. I could feel my face involuntarily becoming a mess of horror.

"But I'm too busy being lazy!"

"Too bad," Mimi sang. Her brown gloved hands pull me off the dirty ground. While I dusted off my pants, she did the same thing to Matt. Apparently we had to look for firewood together. Maybe this was some plot to make us get closer? I didn't have long to dwell, and neither did Matt, as we were shoved towards edge of the meadow. Mimi called "have fun!" after us, which obviously translated into "don't kill each other!"

With no ammunition for argument other than laziness, Matt and I shuffled miserably in the direction of the deeper woods. My hair tickled my nose and made me sneeze. Mimi was no longer in site. Matt and I kept walking in silence. There was no wood near the ground, the trees here being too healthy or something. Not very good for firewood gathering. Sunset was upon us, and I was slightly concerned that it would be night before we found a scrap of proper firewood.

Matt walked with his eyes closed firmly, something he does when he's angry and depressed. I knew that one for sure. At times like this, he just doesn't want to look at the world; he's too disgusted. I was feeling ticked too. I mean, making me gather firewood when I wanted to be lazy?! That's cruelty to animals! The nerve of that girl! I didn't like it when Matt was depressed and angry. But I didn't know how to make him happier… if anything really does make him happier.

I did the first thing that came to mind. True, I almost always do the first thing that comes to mind, but the first thought usually works best in my case. I reached out and grabbed his gloved hand, holding it gently.

His eyes opened wide, frozen with surprise, shrunken pupils turning in my direction with disbelief. His cheeks tinted a brilliant red, and his eyebrows furrowed. Oops, he must have misunderstood the gesture. He looked confused and flustered. His hand raised up in the air- he was going to hit me!

Before I could duck, we both fell flat to the ground. Tripped on the same tree root, if that's what tripped us. Dirt had gotten in my mouth, and it tasted like rotten mushrooms. Ew! But as I plucked myself off the ground and spat out the dirt, I felt a searing pain on my scalp. Somebody yanked my hair, hard!

I gave Matt a death glare, and opened my mouth to yell at him, but he wasn't even looking at me. He was on the ground next to me, his hand and all his other body parts nowhere near me. His eyes were wide, showing the whites on every edge. He was looking above me. His mouth had fallen slack.

He wasn't the one pulling at my hair.

I spun around as well as I could while I was on the ground with my hair being pulled. As I turned, the strain on my hair vanished. I could see nothing behind me. I looked up as well, still seeing nothing. Nothing. And more nothing. Just trees, just woods, nothing special at all.

"It's gone," Matt said quietly.

"What was that?"

"Some weird Digimon. At least, I think it was a Digimon. It looked kind of like a human, only, it had huge red eyes… and it was really tall, and had long black hair. Or maybe that was a pair of wings, I couldn't tell."

"Oh," I said simply. Then I felt that good ol' smile sneak up on my tan face. "Maybe it was a vampire!" Wings, red eyes? It fit, right? I thought I made a good deduction, but Matt didn't seem to think so.

"Have a vampire fetish, do we now?" my blond companion asked smugly. "Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not why I'm pale. But, knowing you, you probably want me to bite you anyway, amongst other things."

"What? I…" It took me a moment, but then I understood what he was talking about, and hot blood rushed furiously to my cheeks. "Ooooooooooooh, you dirty-" Since he was already on the ground, pouncing onto him and giving him a few playful smacks was easy. He gave me several mild slaps back, and it quickly became a somewhat violent wrestling match. By the end of it, my goggles hung sideways off my head, Matt's collar had been ripped right off, and our hair has more leaves in it than the ground under us. We were both laughing, at ourselves and each other, but the scratches and bruises hurt a bit. Like he had threatened to do, Matt had indeed bitten me. Twice. I was lucky his teeth were dull.

Without any further disputes or accusations, we started picking up the scarce and small twigs left on the ground. It would have to do as firewood. Fire wasn't all that important tonight; it was warm, the weather didn't look like it weather didn't look like it was about to do a 180, and we'd already had our dinner. Fish.

With a couple pathetic fistfuls of wood, I gave Matt a tired shrug and we went back toward the camp. It was nearly night by now, but luckily the trees were thin, making it easy to see by the twilight moon and glow from the remaining sun. I thought I saw something dart through the trees for a moment, but it was dismissed due to the slight breeze that tossed the smaller trees back and forth.

When we got to camp, everybody but Mimi was asleep. Izzy, Joe, T.K, and Sora were all sprawled out on the ground, being snuggled by the sleeping forms of their partner Digimon. Gabumon and Agumon hadn't waited for us to return before falling into slumber. Mimi gave us a very strange look. "What?" Matt demanded, tossing his sticks onto the sad excuse for a fire.

Mimi's lips pursed and her cheeks seemed a bit rosy. "What were you doing, having wild sex or something?"

My brain froze for a second, then I realized what Matt and I must have looked like-all ruffled clothes, messy and dirt-filled hair, very human-looking bite marks and scratches. My face must have been glowing like a red street sign. Matt self-consciously pulled a twig out of his hair and tossed it at the fire too.

"Uh, goodnight!" I blurted. Despite her confused squeals, I lay down on the ground and fell instantly into a deep and sun-lit dream.


	2. JuSt BaIt

**I still don't own digimon. No badgering, okie? I'll buy the rights someday! I swear I will!**

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**CHAPTER TWO**

I woke up feeling as bright and perky as if I'd just had two large coffees, a cup of sugar, and an extra week of rest. Even though I had slept on a large and sharp rock, I felt like I could jump over Mt. Everest- but my internal laziness was ten times as powerful as normal, and I knew I would have no desire to do any mountain-hopping. I wanted to keep my eyes shut for a few more minutes, just because I could. A couple more minutes. I felt so comfortable. I didn't care that the rock was poking deep into my side, perhaps even drawing blood.

I lay there in silence, contentedly breathing in the sweet woodsy air, for nearly ten minutes before I opened my eyes. I was surprised to find that it was still night. Maybe I had woken up early? No, I wouldn't have felt so refreshed. I must have done something really stupid, like sleeping a full 24 hours. The moon was shining bright and full overhead, illuminating the beautiful forest a very deep blue.

I shifted easily into a sitting position. Everybody else was asleep. Mimi hugged Palmon, her plantlike pal, in her sleep. Palmon had always looked too much like a cactus to be huggable, in my opinion. Gabumon rolled over, getting his white and blue striped fur all dirty. Biyomon and her brunette friend Sora were snoozing blissfully. TK, Patamon, Izzy, Tentomon, Joe, and Gomamon cuddled each other like teddies. What a site. Agumon snorted softly in his sleep, swinging his orange reptilian feet. He must have been dreaming about running.

It must have been around three in the morning. But I just couldn't sleep! My laziness had completely vanished. I had to do something. Maybe I could take a walk. Or better yet, I could go for a run! Yes, yes, a run. That sounded better than a walk. But I would have to sneak out. The other Digimon and Digidestined were mostly light sleepers, and they wouldn't approve of a lone jog in the woods. Especially Matt, oh, Matt would rip my head off.

It was at that moment that I realized Matt wasn't there. I counted the bodies- there were seven of us, so there should be six sleeping humans and seven Digimon. But after a swift count, I saw with falling spirits that there were only five sleeping humans present, and Matt wasn't one of them.

I should have woken up the others, or at least Agumon. But, no! A missing person was an emergency, more important than waking everybody up. I had to go find Matt! I didn't give it a second's thought before running off into the woods and hollering his name over and over again.

I ran out of breath after only a minute. Not from the running, nor the yelling, but the tripping. I was tripping every two seconds on one root or another. The place was full of them! It was a nightmare! I took a break for a moment, pausing to catch my breath and look around. I was in an unfamiliar clearing, and through all my wandering and yelling, I had completely lost my sense of direction. Oh, that was smart of me, now, wasn't it?

"Just as smart as my usual self," I mumbled to myself. Despite the fact that Matt was missing, I now knew I had to go back. I adjusted my goggles, and tried to figure out which way 'back' was. It was finally getting to my head that I needed help on this one. "Let's see, the moon was over the mountains and the mountains in relation to the campsite are… uuuhhh… Darn it."

I only remembered which way I had been facing when I stumbled into the clearing, so I did a 180 and started walking. I knew for a fact that, when I walk, my left foot goes a little bit farther than my right, so I tried to go a little bit more to the right on the walk back to make up for it. Nothing looked familiar! That's one thing I hated about forests; it was too hard to remember landmarks.

After walking for a couple minutes and seeing nothing familiar, I groaned loudly and ran in a circle out of distress. Then I groaned again, realizing that running in a circle had thrown off my sense of direction altogether. My energy burst from awakening had run out completely. "Matt, where the hell are you?" I called, my voice a bit strained. I got no answer, not even a bug chirping.

I looked around again, hoping to see something familiar, anything. Anything at all. I picked a random direction and walked in it, trying not to trip on the tree roots, which seemed to be getting hard to see, and sticking further out of the ground. Stupid forests. There was a particularly large patch of dense, thick trees in front of me. I didn't bother to dodge it. No sense in getting turned around yet again. I had to shove a large bush out of my way to get through, but the instant I shoved the bush, I froze. Froze completely.

Matt was in the middle of the small clearing between the huge trees. He was on the dirty summer ground, his hair going every direction it so pleased, his body lying in such an odd position that something must have been broken. If anybody needed immediate help, it was him. I ran closer, slipped on something, and fell on my face. I realized, dismally, that I had slipped on a blood-soaked patch of dirt.

"Matt?" I choked, standing right back up and walking cautiously to his side. His eyes were wandering everywhere, unfocused, dazed. They were curiously bloodshot. Were it not for the bloody mess that both of his wrists and his lower neck had become, I would have assumed he was high on some drug. There was a thick trail of blood seeping out the left side of his mouth. After a moment, his clear blue eyes became vaguely fixed on me. I wasn't sure he recognized me, his facial expression was so blank. Very slowly, very gently, I slipped my hands under him and lifted up the upper half of his body. "Matt, are you okay?"

"Tai…" Well, at least he recognized me. Something was really wrong with him, and I didn't know how to get back to the others! Suddenly, Matt's slippery, blood-covered hand grabbed my shoulder. It was such a hard grip, it actually hurt. He suddenly seemed all too aware of himself. "Tai, you're in danger…"

"Why am I in danger?" I demanded. "Am I going sane? Come on, you, let's go back to camp." I started to lift him higher, trying to get him to stand. It would be really hard to wander around like this, lost and carrying the pale boy. And pale was right; he was whiter than the moon. I imagined that blood loss had done that to him. He started kicking and struggling, but he was so weak that it did him no good. There was no way he could walk. He still couldn't get his eyes to focus. Alright, it would be hard, but I was willing to carry him.

"You're being targeted…" I ignored the blonde's protests. With a second's difficulty, I hoisted him into my tan arms. My shirt was being totally drenched in his blood. His shirt was nearly ripped off. Whatever had ripped into his shoulder had been pretty adamant. Strange; with a wound that big and deep, he should have been bleeding more. His eyes wandered for a second as I began walking, then they closed halfway. "Drop me… Tai… I'm just… bait." That made me pause.

"Bait?" I repeated. But I got no answer, because Matt had passed out. I shook my head and marveled at how light he was. Joe would have to tend to his wounds, and I would have to get some food in Matt's belly. Sad, but I had to pick a new direction to walk in. I hoped it wouldn't be far. The idea of Matt being used as bait for something, so whoever it was could get at me, was pretty unsettling.

Luckily, I didn't have to walk very far before tripping on Joe's sleeping leg. Everybody was awake fast enough, and Matt was being tended to by Joe and Izzy and Mimi, but I still didn't feel much better.

The rest of the night was a blur, too fast and confusing to say anything important about. I spent most of it trying to avoid everybody. I only remembered a few small snippets of conversation.

T.K: Do you have any idea what hurt my brother?

ME: If I did, it would be dead by now.

MIMI: You're all covered in blood! Don't you want a bath?

ME: Not with you, I don't!

IZZY: He needs a blood transfusion and you're the only person here with type B- blood!

ME: GET THAT NEEDLE AWAY FROM ME!

At that last word, Agumon fried Izzy in defense of my bloodstream. After tying Agumon to a tree and putting a makeshift muzzle on him, Tentomon and Gabumon ganged up on me, eventually beating me unconscious with a log. I ended up being a blood donor anyway. Matt had better be thankful for that transfusion, damn it.


	3. StOp CuDdLiNg Me!

**CHAPTER THREE- Matt's P.O.V**

I awoke feeling as if I'd woken up from a horrible nightmare and found reality to be even worse. My entire body felt like it had been drenched with layer upon layer of ice-cold sweat. I didn't want to open my eyes. I had no idea how, but I knew something was very wrong with me. Maybe the sweat was because of a fever… I didn't want to see my body. I didn't want to see anything, didn't want to hear anything. I had only just woken up, and I wanted the world to go away and leave me alone.

Great way to start a Monday, if that's what day of the week it is.

"Tai, let him sleep, he needs to recover." A voice, was that Joe? Yes, he always had that annoying muffled sound to his voice, as if he had a pillow wrapped around his head. I heard a scuffling noise, heard the pitter-patter of large shoes. I recognized the pattern. Tai. He always had a certain skip to his walk, and one of his feet would always take a small bit longer to hit the ground.

"Matt, WAKE UP!" I heard Tai's voice scream in my ear. Oh, that was polite! I flung my eyes open and jolted up to yell at him, as awake as I ever was. But before any sound of anger could escape my throat, pain escaped. Pain, yes, pain. I had stretched out my neck a little as I took a large breath to yell, and was rewarded with the horrible tearing feeling of a large and new scab ripping open- on my NECK, of all places.

I keeled over, clutching my hand to my neck in some vain attempt to keep my flesh strung together, and felt the same agonizing shredding at my wrists. I had cuts all over me! And thanks to Tai's idiotic yelling, I had stirred, and they had ripped open. I pulled my gloved hands away and saw that rivulets of fresh blood had seeped through them in only a couple seconds.

"Um… oops…" I heard the scuff of Tai's shoes retreating. What, was he scared of me? He had every right to be scared of me. I felt, quite honestly, as if ripping his head off and watching him twitch as he died would be a suitable way to say 'good morning'. In fact, that sounded very much like a good idea. Yes, I think that's what I'll do, I'll kill Tai.

I got up to my feet, only to be overcome by the strongest wave of dizziness I had ever encountered in my life. The image of Tai's frightened face swam in front of me, and next I knew, my left cheek was being pressed against a rather cold rock. I had crumpled to the ground.

"Tai! Leave him alone!" Joe's muffled voice snapped. It sounded to me as if he were talking from inside a bathroom, the air filled with echoes. Tai was apologizing, and not only for yelling at me. I tried to listen, only picking up vague ideas from keywords, not hearing full sentences. Sorry, vampire, lost, blood, afraid, sick, revenge, bait…

… Bait? Oh, no, don't use that word. Please. I don't want to remember…

* * *

Night. I took a walk aimlessly, not even aware of why I was walking. Some little voice in my head got bored and said I needed to go deep into the forest, all alone. So, I did. So, I got lost. So? I didn't care, I was walking. So, if my friends wanted to find me, they eventually would.

I recall stopping in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by thick brush, and suddenly wondering what had possessed me to run away, for that is exactly what I had done. And I got scared, scared I was going crazy, scared I would never find my way back. Back to my brother. Back to Gabumon. Back to… Tai.

"You did it for me," said a smooth voice. It seemed friendly. I was willing to sit and listen. It told me all sorts of things. The more it spoke, the more calm I felt. But the things it said were horrible, evil. It spoke of killing my brother, killing my soul mate, and killing me. It spoke of monsters and revealed small snippets of a plot, a plot I knew was malicious and elaborate. It spoke of using me as bait to catch Tai.

That was when I broke the spell and screamed at it to leave us all alone, to never hurt Tai or T.K, to never use me against them. The world went black, I couldn't see. Among it's laughs, I heard the words. The words that it spoke during it's special attack, like all Digimon use words during their special attacks. "Deadly Slave."

It felt like I'd been stabbed in the neck, and nearly decapitated. My body exploded with pain, and through my screams of terror and rage, I fainted.

I had woken to see Tai knelt over me, trying to lift me up. I tried to tell him what had happened, I tried to tell him the important parts, before it was too late. But he didn't listen. He never would. And he was still in danger.

* * *

When I came to my senses, it was nightfall. Far past nightfall. Everybody was asleep… My sweet brother was cuddling Patamon, and I knew from his rosy cheeks and chapped nose that he had been crying. Of course he was crying, his brother was hurt and nobody knew what happened! T.K always cried when this sort of thing happened.

Joe, with his short and messy blue hair, was slumped over a log several feet away from me. His glasses were hanging sideways off his left ear, and I was amused to see that he had fallen asleep with his head in his first aid kit. Mimi cuddled Palmon… Izzy's face was pressed firmly into his laptop's keyboard… Tentomon was mumbling and buzzing in his insect sleep… Sora was the only one in a proper sleeping position.

Agumon and Gabumon had strangely fallen asleep in each other's arms. My best friend… two of his arms was drawn over Agumon's orange shoulders, and the other two hung limply on the ground. Last time I saw them try to comfort each other, it was when I had gotten in a huge fight with Tai. They had a stranger sense of team cooperation than Tai and I did, and like all the other children and Digimon, they got very frightened whenever the team threatened to break up…

I looked down at my feet and realized with a gasp that there were four shoes down there. There was my own pair, attached firmly to my feet, and there was a different pair… blue and yellow like… Tai's? I tried to look behind me without turning my wounded neck, and I saw a big brown fuzz ball to my right. Tai's hair.

Upon further inspection, I realized that I wasn't leaning against a tree. I was leaning against Tai, who must have decided off the top of his head to be a mattress for the night. I would have been fine with that, were it not for the fact that his right hand was on my stomach and his left had crossed behind my head to rest on my shoulder. No way. No way! I wouldn't stand for this, I didn't want to wake up and get ogled at by Mimi. She would instantly assume that Tai and I were lovers, and then… ugh! The ramifications.

I tried to lift his hand from my stomach gently, but for once (and very much against my luck) Tai was barely asleep. I heard a sleepy moan from him. I swiftly dropped his hand, but it was too late- my brunette companion was awake. "You up?" He asked softly, sleepily, through a great yawn. Annoyingly, he didn't stretch. His hands were still one me.

I whispered softly, dangerously… "You. Off. Now."

"But-" How dare he protest!

"Now!" My voice nearly rose to a panicked yell. Miraculously, none of the other Digidestined or Digimon awoke. I felt shuffling underneath me, the hands removing themselves from my body. "Thank you," I said acidly. "How about explaining why you're cuddling me?"

"Cuddling?" Tai's voice repeated. It was slightly squeaky, a mix between surprise, revulsion, and embarrassment. "I wasn't cuddling you! I was worried, that's all, and I thought you would appreciate it if I- um…" He trailed off, and I knew perfectly well that he couldn't come up with an excuse. I decided to let it slip. It wouldn't be the first time another guy had decided I was fuckably loveable, and somewhere in the back of my mind I had always figured Tai was gay. I could care less, just so long as he never cuddled me again.

"Whatever. How bad am I?"

"Huh?" I felt him shift under me slightly.

"I got hurt, right? Are the scrapes starting to heal?" I looked up at the cloudy night sky and waited for an answer. Normally, Tai talks fast. Whether I was fine or not, he would likely say something about my superhuman recovery time, and go blabbering about how soon I'll be my healthy self again. I had nearly been killed on several occasions, and that was all he talked about. He spent so much time saying I would be fine that I was certain he was only trying to convince himself.

But this time, Tai didn't say anything. That was scary. That was really, truly scary.


	4. A vAgUe PlAn

**Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I don't own digimon, me so sad, etc...**

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**CHAPTER FOUR- Kyuuketsukimon's P.O.V**

"Shrapnel. Daily life interrupted as we amble about in our capitalistic heaven. Terrorism. Blue is the new and fashionable meaning of life. The president, jerking off to images of decapitated Asian children. Lick your fingers clean after you rip my heart out, please. Maybe there's an Intel inside. Sheep sing Christmas carols on the edge of a precipice. Ashes. The Silence of the Lambs becomes the average American's idol. A new style of Christian Rock causes cancer and bleeding of the heart. Kittens in chains, bound and gagged in wedding dresses. Cockroaches can live for ten days without a head, but humans can live their whole lives without one. Are you an addict, or a drug?"

"Shut UP, Chibikyuumon! You're such a freak!" I screamed it loud enough for the disturbed little Digimon to hear me in her psychotic daze. She was small, pale, slender. She would have looked human, but her skin was far too white, her teeth too many and perfect. She sported slightly red eyes, elongated ears, and long black hair, nearly down to her knees. And she had wings, oh yes, huge, black, leathery ones. She looked like she was seven. I, her Digivolved form, looked similar; only, my ears were placed high on my head and stood up like deer ears. My wings were also much larger. And I looked about twenty; a nice age to look, but I was really several hundred years old.

"Sorry, Kyuuketsukimon. I was just practicing." Her voice was too cute, too high pitched.

"For what, exactly?"

"For when we… _introduce_ ourselves to the Digidestined." Sadly, I'm the one who taught her to insert the pause before a keyword in a sentence, to make it more… _ominous_. I rolled my eyes and informed her that a psycho rambling about social issues wouldn't help break the ice. In fact, they would probably react by pulling out stakes and crosses.

"Matt's a Goth, why can I be one?" Chibikyuumon demanded, puffing up her fat cheeks. She was standing in front of the window, trying to smooth her black lace dress. She normally wore nothing, as I did, but we were trying to make decent impressions on the tasty- er, _kind_ little humans.

"Because the stereotypical Goth is into vampires. As we happen to really _be_ vampires, there's an all-too-obvious connection there. Tai is already onto us, and he hasn't even met us yet. How many hints do you want to throw in their faces?" I thought it was reasonable and would reach her, but, out of spite, she proceeded to pile on the black eye makeup. "Chibi, stop it. Do you want Matt as your stepbrother or not?" The smaller Digimon spun to face me, red eyes glittering like hot and malicious cinders.

"I do!" She screamed. "And I want to marry Tai, but if you keep pissing me off, I'll kill them all and I won't get either wish!"

I know what you're thinking. She definitely doesn't act like she's seven. She's only ten years younger than I am, and she's always been miffed because I managed to Digivolve. Ah, the curse of looking young and cute. I calmed her by helping curl her hair and make her eyes look like fancy hieroglyphics. I personally went for the prep look. Pink shirt, blue flare pants, pink eye shadow, pink nails- yes, lots of pink. I covered my ears with a cute blue hat, and we curled our wings back into the flesh of our backs to appear more human.

Soon enough, we would introduce ourselves to the Digidestined. We would claim to be lost… We would tell them that we're other Digidestined from England, tragically separated from our Digivices and partner Digimon. But would they believe us?


	5. EaVeSdRoPpInG

I still own nothing... well, except for Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon. And they're ripoffs.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE- Tai's P.O.V**

That back there? That was awkward. Totally O-K-W-U-R-D (if I spelled that right). Cuddling Matt in my sleep like some sort of… I dunno… _faggot_. It's not my fault. I miss proper bedding, and I've always snuggled my sheets, and Matt felt really warm… I guess. But no matter how many times I said it, it still sounded so stupid, even to me. Me, cuddling Matt. Disturbing, but…

Oh well! Life goes on, if you're alive anyway!

I surprised everybody by cooking breakfast this morning. Unfortunately, they were more surprised that I actually cooked the food than they were about me accidentally using poisonous mushrooms in the omelets. Damn it! I wasn't trying to poison anybody and they knew it. It was all a good laugh for them, but I was feeling stupid BEFORE I nearly poisoned everybody.

After Izzy and the girls finished remaking breakfast, I wolfed mine down and took Matt's plate. He was still asleep. Good! I sat down beside him, giving him a slow look-over.

We had outright removed his shirt. There was just no use in him keeping it, now that it had been ripped completely to shreds. The cuts were still all over him. His wrist, his shoulders, his neck… There was a huge x-shaped cut right over his heart, which even I knew would be a permanent scar. At least they were healed a bit. They wouldn't rip open when he sat up.

He looked so serene. When he's awake, he puts on this… mask. It's not a physical object. Matt makes himself cold to the world, and tries to hide all his emotions. He hardly ever lets his true self through. I don't know why, maybe he's afraid or maybe he's angry. But when he's asleep, he never has his mask on. There was a small smile on his pale lips, and his cheeks had a barely noticeable blush to them. I decided to wake him up gently, give him his breakfast, and let him get back to sleep.

I took a deep breath…

**_"WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!" _**I screamed in his ear and clapped his cheeks.

He opened his eyes wide and punched me in the stomach. I crumbled onto the dirt, windless.

"Don't _ever_ do that again!" He growled, cupping my chin and forcing me to look into his very much pissy face. His winter sky eyes looked like they were about to burst into flames, he was so angry.

"Excuse me," said Sora's soft voice. Matt's head spun over his shoulder, resulting in a sharp hiss as one of his cuts opened slightly. Eww. "Tai… we need firewood. We have to heat up the water so we can clean off Matt's cuts again." Sora turned her face to the side, seeming unwilling to look at Matt and I. The straps of her bike helmet swayed slightly.

I didn't have to think on that request. "No way! Something's out there in the woods! I don't want to get messed up like Matt did!" The blond coughed slightly, annoyed.

"If you're worried about your safety, why don't you just take Agumon with you?"

… D'oh.

* * *

There was no way out of it. Agumon and I shuffled into the woods, gathering sticks and chatting angrily about the evil wenches Sora and Mimi were. The nerve! It's one thing to make Matt and I go fetch firewood when we wanted to be lazy- it's another thing entirely to send me off into the woods when we know there are evil vampires running around! The sun was being slowly blotted out by clouds, making the woods appear slightly dim and foreboding, yet still beautiful. 

"You believe me about vampires, right?" I demanded, kicked a rock and tripping on a root. I had to pick up the wood all over again.

"Of course, Tai!" Agumon answered, turning his big orange eyes up to me. "I saw what happened to Matt, and the mess was so gory that it HAD to be a flesh eating monster!"

"Exactly! Sora and the others are all full of shit! Complete and total idiots- WHOA!" I tripped and fell again, my face landing in a lump of digimon dung. "Not… one… word."

"Okay, Tai." I got up and wiped the nasty stuff from my tan face, groaning in disgust as I accidentally got some stuck in my bangs. I hurriedly grabbed as much wood as I could, wanting to get this over with. Who knows what dangers lie in the woods, waiting to rip me to shreds and feast on my fleshly being? Eww!

As I bent over to pick up another stick, I heard a loud snapping noise from rather nearby. "Did you hear that?" Agumon asked softly, stepping closer to me, his clawed hands spread out as if he were ready to protect me from anything. I nodded, trying not to be scared. I saw nothing in the trees, and the clouds grew thicker, making the world get darker.

"Agumon-" I was panicking already. Already! I wanted to scream out for him to Digivolve, but then I heard a noise that stopped me. "Shh!"

"Tai, what are you doing?" Agumon asked. His orange eyes widened, and he gave me the "you're being stupid again" look.

"Those are PEOPLE!" I could hear two distinct voices now. They sounded human. Realizing that I didn't recognize the voices, I pulled myself and Agumon into a thick bush under a fallen tree- a perfect hiding place. Agumon understood to be quiet, so we sat still and listened. Our breathing sounded very loud when we were crammed together like that.

"I still don't see why we can't just take them," a young voice snarled. The voices were louder, closer. "It would be so easy. Just wait until they're alone, knock them unconscious, and drag them off to our cave."

"Honestly, Chibikyuumon. If you get any more violent, you'll kill somebody and give us both away. You'll just have to wait for Tai." This voice was older, but still female. There was something about the voice that made my blood run cold, the hair on my neck stand on end. Oh, wait… the hair on my neck always stands on end.

"But Kyuuketsukimon, I'm hungry NOW!" I heard the sound of a foot being stamped angrily into the ground. Agumon and I exchanged glances. Even idiots like us could tell that these girls were plotting something- that, surely, they were the vampires that hurt Matt!

Then they stepped into view. The taller one looked like a black-haired angel, only, without wings. The smaller one… There was something scary about her, no doubt about it. I couldn't see her face, but I could see in her the trademarked look of a Hot Topic customer. Black clothes, black lace, long black hair, stripy stockings, bondage rings everywhere imaginable, chains… She even had clear, glass-like nails. I shivered again. I knew she wasn't a human. She looked human, but I could tell by her voice and something about the way she moved that this was not the case.

They stopped walking. "I just realized that we'll need fake names."

"Ever perceptive, Kyuuketsukimon." The small one's head moved slightly, and I knew she was rolling her eyes. "You should be Mildred."

"No… I think I'm more of a Kendra, it sounds a lot like 'Kyuu'."

"Fine!" The small one's voice rose up so high that I bit back a whimper and covered my ears. Some frightened birds in the trees took flight. She calmed down quickly, and smoothed her skirt. "I wanna be Cherry." The taller one nodded in agreement. Obviously, little 'Cherry' had quite a bit of dominance over 'Kendra'. They proceeded to walk away, in the general direction of… oh no, the camp!

"I can't wait to get a taste of Tai," Cherry sang as they retreated, doing a fake little skip.

"I can't wait to see Matt…" As they faded off into the trees, I heard the last word that sent chills running all through my body. "…Again."


	6. SiZe MaTtErS

**CHAPTER SIX**

Agumon and I sped back to camp. Vampires! Vampires plotting against us! Myotismon came to mind, but unless he got a sex change and a clone, he wasn't involved. I was so frantic in my need to get back to the other Digidestined that I tripped a billion times. Agumon volunteered to blow up everything in front of us, but I insisted that we had to stay quiet. Didn't want the vampires to hear us!

Finally, when we could smell wood smoke and hear voices, we knew we were there. We dashed out of the woods, into the small clearing where we had stayed for the day, and-

"So, are you Tai?"

It was HER. That little 'Cherry' vampire, Chimmykoimon or whatever her real name was. She was using a fake English accent. Now that I finally got a better look of her face, I was even more certain that she was a bloodthirsty monster. Her eyes were huge, red, and surrounded by finely detailed symbols of evil. Of course, the fact that here pupils were vertical slits (like cat eyes) didn't help my suspicions go away.

She was sitting on a log, eating breakfast with the other Digidestined, who were chatting with interested expressions to the other, more preppy vampire- I remembered her name was Kyuuketsukimon. I noticed almost instantly that neither of the two girls were eating their eggs. Agumon made the cut-throat symbol at Gabumon, who seemed oblivious and happy.

"Hello? You're quite deaf…" I pointed at Cherry, spreading my feet wide, trying to make myself look larger than I really was. Agumon mimicked my motion.

"Watch your neck, vampire! I'm onto you!"

The chatting abruptly halted. Cherry stared at me in silence, with an unreadable and somewhat alarming expression. Everybody else was giving me the "you're being an idiot again" look. Even Matt, with all his bandages, didn't seem to see these two for what they really were.

The taller stranger, clad in pink, lifted her hand to her lips and began to laugh high and strong. Her mouth was covered quite well, and I was certain that she was trying to cover up a set of long and dripping fangs. Mimi joined in, then the smaller vampire, then Joe, followed by T.K, then Sora. Even some of the Digimon started to crack up, Patamon nudging Gomamon, who was rolling in the dirt. I looked down, feeling the shame for being strange, even though I knew I was right. I never liked being laughed at. Not like this.

"We're not kidding! Cherry and that other girl are vampires!" Agumon cried out, but his airy voice wasn't heard over the gales of harsh laughter. My head was hung. They still didn't stop laughing. As if I were the funniest joke in the world.

"Let's go, Agumon." My partner looked up to me with sad and frightened eyes. He knew what I meant. Running away was a serious thing in the Digital World.

"Where are you going?" Cherry asked briskly, swishing gracefully onto her feet and hiccoughing away a last giggle. She even sat up like the vampires did in movies!

"Away from you, vampire."

"Can we talk about this?"

"What, so you can drag me behind a tree and rip me to shreds, like- like- like what your friend did to Matt?!" The laughter had died down. Now everybody was staring at me as I were mad and offensive. The shock on Sora's face was hard to look at. Those brown eyes seemed disappointed, on top of it all. Cherry's face still remained unreadable, successfully creeping the hell out of me.

"No, I'm going to tell you why I'm not a vampire. I want to say it in private, to make sure you understand." I was trying to come up with a good refusal. A really, really good one, that would make her fall over and die in shame and confess her vampyness. Of course, nothing came out of my mouth at all. I just have NO wit when it comes to this sort of thing.

"Tai," a broken voice said softly. I turned to look down at Matt, who was sitting propped up against Kendra for support. He was giving me a very deep look, as if trying to stare into my soul. I found myself captivated by those winter sky blue eyes. "There is no such thing as vampires. Some evil Digimon mauled me. I know for a fact that it was Digimon, it's special attack was called 'Deadly Slave'. When we find it, we'll either make it see reason or blow it to hell. I seriously don't think these two hurt me."

I shook my head furiously, ignoring his words completely.

"But I heard them plotting!"

"They were picking fake names!" Agumon added.

"May we **_please_** speak in private?" Cherry snarled, grabbing my wrist rather roughly. Before I could pull away, she began to stomp toward the woods. She was tough! I ground my feet into the dirt, but she continued to drag me as easily as if I weighed two pounds.

"She's gonna eat me!" I shrieked. "Agumon! Matt!" I couldn't twist to see their faces, but I heard a squeal as somebody grabbed Agumon and made him stay put. Cherry kept dragging me, beyond the trees, into the darkened forest. "Guys?!"

"He's quite mad, have you noticed?" Kendra laughed. That was the last I heard of the Digidestined before Cherry yanked me all the way out of earshot.

"You just had to go and say that! You had to haul your hideous and lazy carcass into the woods and eavesdrop! You have no respect! You should have been thrown in the trash can or microwaved at birth!" I was pinned against a tree, being slapped and punched brutally. The splinters were hard and managed to stick all the way through my shirt, into my back. I hissed and gritted my teeth in pain, trying once more to ignore that I was choking up blood, trying to kick the vampire off me.

Size does matter, it's true. It's quite true. In her case, being small was an advantage. She was only a billion times faster than me. Every time I tried to lash out at her or duck away, she caught me with an even more painful blow. Every course of action seemed like a submission.

"Useless, useless! I can't believe I had wanted you as a husband!" Her hand connected with my face again, this time with enough force to send me spinning into the ground. My jaw crunched painfully on contact with a tree root. The rest of my body fell behind me, limp and weak as a wet towel. I could barely breath, the pain in my chest was so great. My eyes pinched shut. I didn't want to look at her face, so disfigured with rage that I might have become phobic of children.

I heard the soft crunching of leaves as Cherry's leather boots took a step towards me and held still. I couldn't move. She was going to kill me, I knew it, I knew it. I wanted to stand up, say something brave and heroic. Or at least spit on her pretty little dress. But all I could do was lie on the dirty ground, choking on my pain and waiting for the end.

I'm not one for despairing thoughts. But in those moments of silence, I shed a tear that washed away a thin trail of the blood on my bruised cheeks. That tear was for Matt. I wish he had believed me, but now it was too late. Him and all the others would all suffer my fate. I don't care what happens to me, I just wanted the others to live and be happy…

"Lethal Minion." I heard the screaming force of her attack, felt it slowly moving toward me. This was no normal attack, it was taking it's time to reach me. It was going to envelope me slowly. Even in my weakened state, my body tensed, preparing itself for pain and darkness.

"Deadly Slave!" My eyes flew open, focusing on the hazy form of Kyuuketsukimon about twenty feet away. Her buzzing black attack leaped forward. I knew she was a murderer! My heart sank, but the attack flew strait over my head and blew Chibikyuumon's own attack to nothing. Cherry was noiseless. I assumed she was stunned beyond belief, just as I was.

"Chibikyuumon, you homicidal imbecile." Her voice was strangely warm, not full of ice as I had expected. I whimpered slightly, gagging a bit as a few drops of blood tried to escape my lips. "Do you really wanna kill him? He just doesn't understand that our intentions are innocent."

My bruised and bloody **ass**, you're innocent. Want evidence? Look at my bruised and bloody ass! The vampire walked slowly up to me, moving me more into focus. I heard Cherry shuffle backwards. "She really beat you to a blood pulp, I see."

"No kidding," I managed to croak before succumbing to another fit of coughs. I heard a skittering noise- Cherry was running away?! Kyuuketsukimon, A.K.A Kendra, knelt before me and gently lifted my chin from the dirty ground. Her soft red eyes looked me over with warmth and a well-disguised hunger.

"Sorry about her, she has no restraint. She really does like you, believe it or not. I must say, you really are quite a cutey. If I weren't saving myself for Matt, I'd be all over you."

"That's nice." I just couldn't keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "You're both… fucking… monsters." She leaned her face closer, brushing her full lips against mine and turning to whisper in my ear.

"Only the Digital kind, honey. Go to sleep. Forget all this ever happened." I have no idea how or why, but that's exactly what I did.


	7. GrIm DiScOvErIeS

**I still don't own jack... er, I mean, MATT and all the other Digifolk. Doesn't that just blow?**

Thanks for the reiews, **InfynitiStar **and **DigiFrontier**!

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**CHAPTER SEVEN- Matt's P.O.V**

Breakfast (more eggs) was dull as ever. Like I cared much. We'd just been riled up quite well. When Cherry dragged Tai into the woods, Agumon completely lost it. Palmon had to wrap him up quite nicely with vines before we could talk him into a calmer state. In the ruckus, that other new girl- Kendra- she vanished. Everybody else said she was going off to find a nice lavatory bush… I wasn't so sure.

After half an hour, I was starting to wonder- no, WORRY about Tai. He was so adamant. His claims that Cherry and Kendra were vampire were ridiculous… but when I thought about it a little more, Myotismon was a real vampire, and English Digidestined don't grow on trees. They had appeared too suddenly after my… attack. Too suddenly for this be a coincidence.

Did I mention that my wounds were healing three times faster than Joe and Izzy said they would?

By the time we were done with our fish breakfast, it had been nearly an hour. Now I was really worried. But I didn't say my fears out loud to anybody. Not even Gabumon, who asked me several times what I was thinking. The sun was climbing high into the sky, but it was masked by clouds, which kept getting darker and darker… I knew it was going to rain, but in the meantime, the sun wasn't going to shine on us.

No sunshine… I hadn't seen the sun since I was attacked. I was starting to miss it...

"Oh my GOD!" I heard Mimi screech, followed by a horrified squeal from T.K. I looked up from my dismal thoughts and completely froze in mortified horror.

It was Kendra, carrying the limp and bloody form of Tai. He wasn't nearly as cut up as I had been, but he was three times as bruised. His face was turned away from me, and I wasn't sure I could have kept my lunch in if I saw it. There was a splash of blood running across Kendra's face, and that was all I needed to see to form my judgment.

That murderous, subhuman, undead, cannibalistic BITCH.

I nearly screamed from the onslaught of emotions, but I swallowed it down. Tai was right about her. She hurt him. She might have killed him. How dare she. How DARE she. And here she was, waltzing up to us, looking as innocent as pie. I would have given my legs to punch her. Of course, after taking one slow step forward and falling to the ground, I realized that I would indeed do so.

The instant I fell over, there was a crack of lightening and the rain began to fall. The world was so dark.

"What happened to him!" T.K demanded.

"Was it a Digimon?" Izzy demanded, pulling out his laptop.

"Is he alive?!" Mimi squeaked.

"Mmmph!" Agumon whimpered (they had put another muzzle on him) as he tried to break out of his greenery bonds.

"You bitch!" I screamed out over the babble of the others. They all fell silent. Their shadowed faces all turned towards me. I glared at Kendra, who's eyes were so easy to see that I was certain they glowed. I choked slightly as I sat up. "You really are a vampire! He was right! Why did you do that to him, huh?!" At that point, I stopped paying attention to my words. They just tumbled out freely and spitefully. Sentence structure? Completely forgone. I just wanted to see the looks on her face.

It took a few minutes for me to ramble myself to silence. I can't believe I had exploded like that. My friends had all shrunk away from me and were now staring at me with wide eyes. Kendra looked freakishly neutral. Didn't she care about what I just said?

"Well?"

Kendra looked me over, her lips pursing slightly, ever so slightly. Then her cheeks tinted slightly pink (visible under her makeup) and her lips pursed even more. Her eyes narrowed and became slightly shiny. I thought she was about to explode with rage.

But she only started laughing. "You're crazy too! Vampire's do not exist."

"Than you're not real." She ceased not to laugh joyously and exclaim that I was being a fool, that I needed to stop before I made myself out to be crazy. Izzy and Joe quickly liberated Tai from her arms, laying his limp form on the ground. I batted my eyes against a raindrop that fell on my upper cheek, effectively hiding an enraged tear. Now she was making fun of me.

"You shut up! Why did you hurt him?!"

"I didn't," Kendra giggled.

There was a snapping noise as Agumon's muzzle broke. "Pepper breath!" A fireball twice the size of my head went careening toward the pink teen, who didn't see it in time to duck. Mimi and Sora shrieked in shock as the flames hit their target. Kendra's fanged lips parted as she screamed in pain, her hair and shirt bursting aflame. Now her folded wings were exposed as well, currently nothing more than little black folds of skin and bone, but quite visible. "Gotcha!" Agumon snarled. The screaming vampire thrust her face into a forming puddle, letting her hair fall in it and extinguish itself. T.K, who was nearest to the puddle, hopped a foot away and squeaked in terror.

I shakily heaved myself back onto my feet, feeling a bit less pain than I expected. Mimi's brown gloved hand lurched forward and held mine to help me steady myself. I smirked. She believed me now.

Kendra pulled her face from the mud, her red slit eyes focusing on my blue ones coldly. Her arms folded over her burnt and exposed chest as she stood up- not using any muscles, just floating up into the upright position. Just like the vampire movies. T.K leaned against me, and I rested a hand on my brother's teal helmet in a supportive manner. "I thought vampires weren't real," I spat at the angry Digimon.

"If vampires aren't real, you'll be figment of our imagination in three days," Kendra snarled, fangs bared.

… What? I froze completely. If vampires are real and I'll be figment of her imagination in three days, doesn't that mean…

I looked down at one of the cuts that had been on my arm, and stared at it. There was little left of it but a scar. No wonder I had been healing so quickly.

This monster in front of me had stolen my soul and was beginning to warp my body.

"Matt?" Sora whispered. "You're not _really_ turning into a vampire… right?" Her chocolaty eyes gazed at me with disbelief, as if pleading to hear that Kendra was lying.

"I don't know," I mumbled.

"You can't blame me for everything," Kendra snapped. "This whole thing was Cherry's idea, and by the way, we _don't mean any harm_. She's the one that mauled Tai, and I stopped her! She didn't even do it on purpose! She was just angry…" Her voice softened, as did her red eyes, which were now glazed with red. "We just want you to trust us."

I wouldn't buy that for a second. "You're trying to kill us!" I yelled. Agumon fired more of his pepper breath at her, and his attack was joined by all the other Digimon's attacks. The vampire Digimon leapt into the air, evading them all at once, and she flew away. Her flight was slightly wobbly.

We watched her retreat into the black rain. The very second she was gone from our vision, I fell to my knees and choked back a sob. She had showed up out of nowhere, acting so nice, and she turned out to be a monster. A monster that was trying to make me one. And Tai…

I crawled towards Tai, intent on seeing how badly injured he was, but I found my legs being pinned to the ground. I whirled around and stared into the anxious eyes of the other Digidestined. Mimi was holding my ankles still, batting her huge eyelashes against the splashes of rain and the tears that were making her nose turn red. "Don't you touch him. He's all bloody, and you'll be DRINKING blood soon enough."

"Are you suggesting that I'm going to hurt Tai?!" I demanded, trying to kick my legs free. Joe, his glasses fogged from the humidity, leapt forward and held my right hand to the ground, while faithful Gomamon snared my left. "Guys, I'm not a vampire yet! I won't hurt him! I won't hurt any of you! I just want to see if he's okay!" I turned my pleading blue eyes to Gabumon, who looked completely torn.

"We have to tie him up," Mimi sniffed, swaying her pink hair as drops of water fell gracefully from it. As if I wasn't there.

"Mimi," I whimpered. I felt so… defeated. It hurt to see so much distrust in her eyes. But the same cold sadness was in the eyes of everyone else as well. I realized it was bad, that I could even smell their sadness now.

It was inevitable. They were going to tie me up. I let them. I closed my eyes and cried and let them tie me to a tree. They had the decency to give the choice between standing and sitting, but that didn't make the ropes any more comfortable. Gabumon sat against my feet, leaning on me, saying nothing but offering me slight comfort by his presence. I was glad that he wasn't as afraid of me as the others. But it still stung that he was afraid of me.

As if that wasn't bad enough, my old friends did the worst thing to me that they had ever done. In all my years facing abuse and depression on earth, through all the battles in the Digital World, through thick and thin, they had always been nicer than this. But not now. Now that I was tied to a tree, you'd think they would do no worse to me. But they did.

They refused to tell me if Tai was okay.


	8. MoLeStAtIoN wElCoMe?

**I own Cherry and Kendra, and MAYBE the story, but nothing more! This chappie is extra long, to make up for my evil suspenseful cliffhangers in the previous chapters.**

**Of course, I did another cliffhanger in this chappie as well. NYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! I'm so evil! The evilness of my evility is so wondrously evil, ne?**

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* * *

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**CHAPTER EIGHT**

I don't know how I did it, but I fell asleep. Before opening my eyes, I figured that I had passed out from too much crying and screaming until I had no air left. That has happened to me before. I don't think it's any of your business why. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but now that I thought about it, I might have been better off if I never woke up again.

Now that my friends think I'm going to kill them.

Now that I might actually do so.

Fucking vampire.

I still refused to open my eyes. Despite my rage, depression, and fear, I was feeling… great. My body felt much better, and I assumed my wounds had began to heal. I coughed softly and found that I didn't need to clear my throat. And I felt… inspired. Darkly inspired, but inspired. I began to scream out the new lyrics forming in my mind, and anybody that had a problem with it could get eaten by dogs for all I cared.

Kendra, you bitch. This song is for you.

_Dance, fall, dance, fall,_

_In your arms but not romance,_

_There was a starving beast within,_

_So much more wicked than my own sins_

_So_

_Give me_

_Give me_

_Give me back_

_my heart and soul!_

_I am not a puppet!_

_Give me_

_Give me_

_Give me back_

_my self control!_

_Sing, sob, sing, sob,_

_All alone without a thing_

_I used to have a conscience_

_But you killed it without penitence_

_So_

_Give me_

_Give me_

_Give me back_

_my heart and soul!_

_I am not a puppet!_

_Give me_

_Give me_

_Give me back_

_my self control…_

"Shh!" I opened my eyes, blinking out the sleep. Tai was in my face. But how? Hadn't he been beat up? Yes, yes, he had. His body was leaned over me, and the grit on his knees suggested that he had crawled to reach me. His face was one solid bruise, and the early morning light made it a little difficult to realize at first. His lips were quite swollen, and his left eye was quite bloodshot, but still clear. Still soft, brown, and shiny. Still… beautiful. He was whispering, so I tuned back into reality. "Don't wake the other up! Can we talk?"

"Why would you want to talk to me?" I asked slowly. I tried to keep my voice cool, but he apparently detected my depression.

"Because, uh… you're tied to a tree, and I don't know why?"

"They didn't tell you?" My head pricked up. Maybe there was hope after all. Maybe Tai would see my side of the story, but he was scared of vampires too, especially after what had happened to the two of us…

"Nah, I just woke up. Who beat me up, anyway? I can't remember anything. I don't even know what day of the week it is. But I normally don't know that anyway, so… where was I going with this? Oh yeah- answers. Now!" I took a deep breath, trying not to squirm my legs, since Tai was currently using them as a chair. How to explain this? I needed to collect my wits, calm down from my angst rage.

The shadow of the tree felt nice and cool, the dew sparkling merrily around the sleeping forms of the Digimon and Digidestined. Izzy had been doing watch duty, and had fallen asleep using Palmon as a pillow. They weren't awake and giving me hell. And here was Tai, sitting lightly on my legs, bruised and beaten but still careless and cute. Wait, did I just think 'cute'? Maybe my evil vampire hunger would start with lust for every human near me.

Oh well. Even though it was incredibly wrong, I enjoyed having him sitting on my lap and watching me. I could feel him growing impatient. His huge shoes began tapping on the ground next to us, and I just smirked at him. "Well?" He put a little pout on his face, and I almost burst out laughing.

Of course he was cute. He was cute like a little kid stuck in a hot teen body.

Hot? Damn it!! That didn't come out right.

"Well, ya know how I was mutilated in the woods?"

"Wait, when did that happen?" My eyes opened wide, and I could feel the color draining from my face.

"You don't remember? I was mauled in the woods at night, a few days back. You found me and brought me back to camp, Tai. You spent so long insisting that I was attacked by a vampire. Then Cherry and Kendra-"

"Who?"

"Let me finish! Cherry and Kendra, the vampire jerks, introduced themselves to us as English Digidestined, who had lost their Digivices and partners. You must have been following them or something, because you ran into camp and started screaming about them being vampires. Cherry dragged you into the woods and kicked the daylights out of you for it… Then Kendra dragged your carcass back to the camp. Agumon thought she attacked you, so he roasted her shirt off, and she had wings. So, she was revealed that way. You were right about her being a vampire. She kind of ran off after…. after saying that I was going to turn into a vampire too."

Well, that was a mouthful. Tai was staring at me as if I had grown a pair of bunny ears and started taking to trees. Then he burst out laughing. "C'mon, Matt, tell me the truth! Vampires aren't real." I nearly choked. He really remembered nothing. "I mean, it would be really cool if they were real. But they're not."

"Explain Myotismon."

"Evil bastard, yes. Vampire, no."

"Look at yourself," I pleaded. "Cuts and bruises left from Cherry's assault. Look at me, Tai. I've been hurt too." His eyes roamed over my body. I could swear, for a split second, he was focusing on my crotch. But I had other things to worry about. I could feel his confusion. As if were a physical object. His pulse must have quickened slightly; there a glow about him. All that blood. I shuddered. I shouldn't be able to know this sort of thing about him. About anybody.

These senses are not human senses.

"You look fine to me," Tai said bluntly.

"That's the bad part of it, Tai! I'd practically been ripped to shreds, and now there's not a scratch on me! Do you know why I'm not wearing a shirt? It had been ripped to shreds and drenched in blood. Whether you believe it or not, I'm turning into a… a monster." He didn't react the way I thought he would.

"You're not wearing a…? Oh! I didn't notice, 'cuz your chest is all roped up. Not that I stare at your chest." I snorted. He didn't seem to notice. "Ya know, Matt, I can't imagine you as a monster." I closed my eyes dismally.

"Well, I can." I expected Tai's eyes to get hard, and for him to start yelling at me for getting depressed again. But once again, he completely defied everything I had come to believe about his behavior.

He turned around on shaky knees, and winced slightly as he laid his bruised body down on top of me, using my roped-up chest as a pillow. I shivered. Not because I had suddenly noticed that he smelled wonderful, like a pine fire in the rain… It was because my body had enjoyed that act a little too much. I was quite frightened by my abrupt change in, uh, sexual preference. When did this happen?! And even if I was suddenly gay, I should not be feeling anything for Tai. We're best friends. His chest shook as he snickered a bit.

"I think you'd make a much better pillow than a vampire. No offense."

"Get off me. Now." I tried, once again, to sound cool as a cucumber. The problem was, I'd never been so excited in my life. I felt really wrong, really dirty, because of that. God, I hope Tai didn't notice.

"Whyyyyyyyyyy?" The brunette asked jeeringly, turning slightly to give me calf eyes. "What are you gonna do about it? You're tied to a tree!"

My mind reeled. "The others. The others will wake up and think you molested the evil vampire."

"Was that an invitation to molest you?"

"DAMN IT, TAI!" I screamed in my tan companion's ear, while he burst out in merry laughter. I wish I could control the color of my face, because brick red skin and messy blond hair don't go very well together in ANY lighting. Maybe he thought it was funny, but I certainly didn't.

Especially because we had just woken up the others on accident.


	9. PrOmIsE yOu'Ll HuRt Me

**Okay, I still don't own jack.**

**This may seem a little confusing, but basically Matt and Tai have both been kicked out from the Digidestined. Matt for being vampiric and Tai for defending him.**

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE- Tai's P.O.V**

Well, shit. Things were bad. Really, really bad. Most of the time, if I was apart from the other Digidestined, it was voluntary. This time, they'd flat out ditched me. Those prejudiced, overly heroic bastards!

Oh, right. Excuse me. They flat out ditched _us_, not _me._ They left Matt, too. This was a real pisser. I would forever hold a grudge against them for this! They had to go and make it even worse by not letting Agumon and Gabumon stay with us. That's right, they kidnapped our partners and left Matt and I stranded in the middle of nowhere in the Digital World. Pricks.

All this, just because I can look past the pale skin of my "vampire" friend and see clearly enough that his heart is still pure and human. Matt always was, still is, and always will be, the child of Friendship. I don't think the crest of courage had anything to do with this, but I was willing to stick up for my friend, even if the others would not.

Now, sitting next to my pale and sulking companion, I couldn't think of anything to say to him to make him happier. He knew that it was his fault. He knew that, if he hadn't ran off in the woods and gotten mutilated by the Kendra wench, we would all be together still- like a big, happy, multi-species family. He knew that they would have abandoned him anyway, but he didn't say anything when I stood up for him and got kicked out too. I wanted him to know that I understood. I do blame him, I mean, it really was his fault, but I still didn't hate him.

I almost love him. Yeah, that's weird, but that's how it is. He's my best friend, and maybe some day he could be something even more special to me.

I chewed my lip, thinking. Sure, it was nightfall now, meaning it was only a day and a half until Matt would vamp out on me. That should have scared me, but it didn't. It really didn't. For one thing, I still couldn't believe that he was turning into a vampire. A real, honest to God vampire. For another thing… if he really was turning into a vampire, that would actually be sort of cool. I'd only watched a billion vampire movies, and I always found myself rooting for the vampires instead of the slayers.

The sun had set only half an hour ago. I still wasn't tired, even though I was still bruised and beaten up. The clouds were clearing slightly, exposing a very elegant sliver of moon. The blue light from one side, and the orange glow on the other, gave Matt's hung head a glow. It almost looked like he had a halo. Pfft… vampire. Whatever. I could hear him crying softly. Vampires don't cry. Abandoned children do.

"You know, Matt, you haven't been _completely_ abandoned." He didn't look up at me, so I gently grasped his hand and held it. I looked away, expecting to be slapped, but I felt nothing. Wait, why was I expecting a slap? Oh yeah, a few days ago, in the woods, he was gonna hit me for trying to hold his hand. Why hadn't his hand met my face, anyway? I couldn't remember. This time, he really needed somebody to hold his hand, I guess. His fingers squeezed mine for a moment, and then he relaxed and held still.

"Why did you stand up for me?" His voice was broken from stress, but any fool could tell it had once been beautiful.

"I dunno. They accused me of being hypnotized, what was I supposed to say? I was anything but hypnotized. How could they even think that?"

"Maybe they thought it because you were crawling all over me and practically begging to have sex with me. You don't normally act like that."

"Well, I didn't deny the seduction charges, but I was not hypnotized!"

"I didn't try to seduce you!" The blond snarled, actually baring his teeth at me and whirling to fix me with an icy glare. I shivered and shrank away slightly. His teeth were just a little pointy. "I'm actually really, really disgusted with you. Why the hell did you find it so damn exciting to see me tied to a tree, you sadistic faggot?!"

Ow. How was I supposed to answer that? "I-I… I guess it's because I liked the idea of being able to hug you without getting slapped. Like you normally do. I'm just a glompy person." He looked away, practically melting into shadow by only moving his head.

"Well, you should have settled for hugging Mimi or Sora. Or maybe even T.K. He likes hugs." He was bitter about being ditched by his brother, which I understood, but I still didn't understand why he was so mad about being hugged by me. I know he enjoyed it more than he says.

"Hey, you enjoyed that hug! I know you do! If your face turning red wasn't enough, know what I felt moving underneath me?"

"You shut up, Tai!"

"What, do you hate me or something?"

"Most of the time, yes!"

"Than why are you holding my hand?" I heard a mortified gasp from him, felt his hand wrench away from mine, and-

**_SMACK. _**I heard my jaw crack and cried out from the sudden pain as I fell over sideways. I hadn't even seen his hand move, it was so fast. My eyes were flinched shut and my teeth were gritted. Ow. Had I ever been hit that hard before? Maybe once or twice, but not by somebody that close. With a groan, I rested a hand on my freshly damaged cheek. I was alarmed to feel a sticky substance on my fingertips.

I turned up to Matt with apologetic eyes. After all, it was really my fault, I said the wrong thing. But he wasn't looking at my eyes. He was looking back and forth between my cheek and his hand. There was blood under his nails. Jeez, not only did he hit me, but he scratched me, too. Thank god for his short fingernails.

"Tai, I… I didn't mean to hit you." Before I could even think of moving away, he pressed his thin and shirtless body lightly against mine, cupped my chin with his right hand, and gently caressed my cut cheek with the other hand. I winced and nearly whimpered. His finger was heading the wrong direction, it had ripped my skin open a slight bit more. "I'm sorry. I'm so stupid."

"Could you get your hand off my face?" I cried. I didn't mean to sound like I was panicking, because I really wasn't, but that's what it sounded like. Okay, maybe I was a bit creeped out. But that was all. Matt closed his eyes, looking very worried, and he leaned toward me. This is where it got creepy.

He gently kissed my scraped cheek, like a mommy kissing a boo-boo on a baby. I tried not to blush, but I failed fast enough. Of course, that meant there was only a little more liquid dribbling out from my head. Damn him and all his hotness! Damn him for not liking me the way I like him! But when he leaned back a couple inches to pull away, he froze.

And he leaned forward again.

And he started licking my cheek. I was too startled and nervous to say anything. What was I supposed to do, hit him? I was just frozen in place, shivering and trying to ignore the fact that his tongue actually felt pretty nice on my skin. I don't normally freeze solid, but this was probably the weirdest situation I'd ever been in. It was freaky, but I wasn't sure I wanted him to knock it off just yet.

After about a minute, I finally sputtered out the first thing that came to mind. "Um. What are you doing?" He jolted away from me, staring with alarm at my cheek. There was a red smear on his lower lip, and I knew exactly what that was. It was also a little hard to not notice how his eyes were slightly bloodshot.

"I'm turning into a vampire," the blond quaked, shaking his head as if to tell himself that it couldn't be true.

Well, after that freaky display, I finally believed him. And I told him so. He turned away, hiding his eyes from me in shame. Of course he was ashamed. Matt is a very proud guy. I almost expected him to get up and run away from me in his shame, so I grabbed his hands and held them tightly.

Then I got one of my patented crazy ideas.

"Matt? I want you to make a me promise."

"I can't promise not to hurt you," the soon-to-be vampire whimpered. He still didn't look at me.

"Not that kind of promise, silly! When you turn, I want you to make me your first victim!"


	10. FaKe HyPnOsIs

**I wish I owned the rights to this- but ALAS, no! Stupid copyrights! I WANT MATT! ahem, on with the show.**

**Thanks again for haunting my story, InfynitiStar.**

* * *

Tai is stupid. Tai is so, so stupid. Sometimes, I just can't believe how horrifically stupid he is. Completely retarded. No, no, not retarded- retarded means slow- he's BRAINDEAD. 

What kind of guy asks, in his right mind, to be bitten by a vampire? Not me. Not anybody, it should be. But Tai did. That idiot. He made me feel stupid, too. I had no idea what to say to him. When he asked me, requested to be my first victim, he had that sparkle in his eyes that he only got when he was thinking of something awesome. Why must those words echo in my head?

"Not that kind of promise, silly! When you turn, I want you to make me your first victim!"

Can't he see that I'm in the middle of a mental breakdown? And a great deal of it is his fault? I didn't even answer him. I just stared at him. Why did he want me to do something like that? Was he suicidal because of being ditched, or was he just suffering from more cheerful insanity than normal?

"Matt? C'mon, answer me!"

"You're crazy."

He obviously didn't hear me. Well, maybe he did, but his answer still seemed odd. "Come on. If you're going to be a vampire, your biggest problem is going to be loneliness in eternity, right? I could stand hanging out with you for a few hundred years or more! Vampires get top do really cool stuff!"

"Like senselessly slaughtering beautiful women?" I croaked dryly.

"Yeah, like that!" I shuddered. It's a good thing Tai wasn't a vampire. Sometimes, our little child of courage was a little too bold. "That was sarcasm, Blondie. If vampires can live off vampire blood, having me around would mean you don't have to hurt anybody else."

He actually got up and began to pace around, trying to prove that he was thinking. To me, it looked like he was a knucklehead marching in circles. "Who says vampires can live off vampire blood?"

"Who says they can't?" Tai fired back. "Think of the cooler things. Vampires can turn into bats, wolves, and mist! Vampires can hypnotize people! Super strength, super speed! Walking silently! Think of it! Next time somebody bosses you around, you just stare them in the eye, and your undead mojo will leave them shaking like jelly… or polishing your shoes!"

"That… does sound a little fun," I mumbled. I was thinking of Mimi and Sora. All those stupid trips into the woods to gather wood. Hypnosis would have really come in handy a few days ago.

Tai was in rant mode. Since it was just the beginning of a new night, the moon had just began to rise, making a halo of white light around Tai. His baggy brown shorts and blue shirt looked almost black, but I could see the individual stitches from a few feet away. I closed my eyes. As nice as it was to see things so clearly, I knew it was a sign that my humanity was slipping away from me.

"-forever with you."

I opened my eyes and stared at him. I must have spaced out. What was he talking about? Forever with me? Forever? With… me? "What?" I asked slowly, watching his face. His eyes were completely locked onto mine. He was still smiling slightly, but he looked serious. Happy but serious. He took a deep breath and began again.

"If you're going to be around forever, you'd get lonely all by yourself. I don't want that. I want to spend forever with you."

I could feel the truth dripping out of his shiny brown eyes. I couldn't find any will in me to move. Well, any idiot could have said that Tai was completely in love with me. I'm not idiot. I was looking for the catch. Tai wanted to be a vampire, claimed it was because he wanted to be with me forever. But, god, this is TAI. Tai, with a sweet grin and increasingly sinister motives.

He suddenly looked mortified, and confused. He ran a gloved hand through his messy hair, eyes widening at me. Perhaps he was afraid that I would turn him down. His leg shifted nervously, and he stared at the ground for a moment, before turning back to me. He looked very flustered. "God, Matt, don't DO that!" He suddenly yelled, his cheeks flushed.

"Do what? I demanded, perplexed.

"Hypnotize me, you dolt! Forcing corny, totally made-up love confessions out of me! Jesus! You're horrible! Just so you know, you might want me to think like that, but… But I don't want to think like that, okay? Don't mess with my head!"

"But I didn't do anything!"

"Whatever," the brunette mumbled as he sat down beside me. He was just trying to cover his ass. He knew he messed up, so he was trying to blame something. I couldn't help it but smirk. Now that I wasn't shocked out of my mind, his little phrase was very cute.

_Maybe if he came to his senses about vampires being evil, I'd give him a chance._

Wait, what am I thinking?

_I'm considering Tai as a romantic interest._

What's wrong with me?

_Hunger. It's the blood talking. The blood is my soul now, it's the master now._

Souls, blood, whatever. I should not like Tai.

_Sweet and cute as he is?_

I am not gay, and we're just friends. Stupid vampires.

_Ah yes, stupid Kendra. Damn her to hell and Marry Tai already._

Mutilating my opinions and manipulating my desires.

_Twisting my soul._

Seems that when I twisted, Tai bent with me. Why did he have to get dragged into all this?

_Hmm, Tai, bent over with you. Pleasant mental images._

Shut up! What's wrong with you!

_A bit bipolar, aren't we?_

I hit myself, hard. I heard the shuffle as Tai shook his head. He didn't know what to say any more, now that he thought he had made a fool of himself. Somehow, having that disturbing conversation with myself had cleared out my thoughts a little better.

Whether Tai was my friend or something more than that, it doesn't matter. He just has to know I don't hate him any more. But I had no idea how to say it.

So I gently took his hand in mine, peeling off his glove so I could feel his palm against mine. He was trembling, a million thoughts and emotions racing each other through his body.

It was only a day and a half until I woulddie. I didn't want to change. Because I knew, some way or another, that Tai would change too.

I don't want him to change. Ever.


	11. I wIlL nEvEr EaT wItH yOu AgAiN

**Digimon has come into my posession through much blackmail. Ha. I wish. I still don't own anything. Whimper.**

* * *

Morning dawned cold and crisply. I still don't understand how we had managed to fall asleep, in the light of abandonment and the insecure feelings between us. What were we? Best friends, worst enemies, lovers-to-be? Somehow we had fallen asleep next to each other, holding hands that were still clasped when the dew-frosted morning broke loose its pink and gold tidal wave of splendor. 

Wow, I feel very poetic today.

I woke up earlier than Tai, which is never a surprise. He sleeps like the dead and never enjoys resurrection. His sleeping face was so very serene, despite the silly blue and yellow clothes, despite the goggles, despite the chocolate mop on his head. Sometimes I think the body we behold on earth is not the true body of any being, and Tai really should have been born an angel. I dislike angels, but there's something angelic about Tai. Maybe it's his innocent heroism.

I really am a poet today. I think I think too much. I'll turn into Izzy soon. Dear god, that would be awful, even ignoring his horrible fashion sense. I breathed in the new air of the day, feeling the cool crystals of oxygen swirl around in my lungs and clear my body of the old carbon dioxide. I think I might have heard a bird singing, but that would be impossible. There are no normal birds in the Digital World. The tree that shaded us from the morning light sparkled like a chandelier laden with diamonds.

I looked down at Tai again, marveling in how simple he looked. How he just lay there, splayed out on the grass, dew collected on his skin. His chest was rising and falling slower than time should have allowed. His cuts and bruises still plagued him, but they didn't impede on his appearance much. Stupid, happy little angel. I knew he would be the death of me someday, whether I took a bullet for him out of love or we stabbed each other in a blind rage. Fucking angel.

I wasn't feeling hungry. I know I should have. I hadn't eaten in days. Even if I was becoming a filthy blood drinking monster, I wasn't one yet, and that meant my body needed energy. But I just didn't feel hungry. Not even thirsty. I only wanted air passing my lips. But I knew Tai would be hungry, him and his ferocious appetite. I slowly pulled my hand from his, standing in a sudden resolve to find him something to eat when he awoke. After all, we had to stay together or neither of us would last long, so we might well have extra reason to stay together.

I found the idea of eggs unlikely, but perhaps a load of berries would do the trick. I turned toward the woods, which glistened invitingly in the dewy morn.

Then it happened. The second I stepped out of the shadow of the tree, I felt a horrible pain all over my back, like a sudden and unexpected blow from a cat-o-nine tails. It burned as if my skin had been ripped off and somebody had poured acid over the raw flesh. I fell to the ground screaming and crying, no idea what was wrong, wanting it to end immediately.

Strangely enough, it did. I was gasping to recover my breath, blinking the agonized tears out of my eyes, at a complete loss of explanation for what just happened. Then I noticed the hand grasped tightly around my wrist, which stung to indicate I just been dragged by it. Tai's sleepy face floated over mine. Wait, since when was I on my back and looking up at the tree's branches?

"Are you crazy?" Tai said, a bored drawl in his voice as if he knew the answer, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his sparkling eyes. "It's morning, you idiot. You can't just walk out into the broad daylight if you're a vam…" He yawned for a second time, " … vampire."

I closed my eyes and allowed that tear to slip away, sitting up and running a hand along the skin of my exposed back. It felt hot under my fingers, burnt. But it was cooling fast. "I'm not a vampire yet," I whimpered, feeling suddenly helpless. I would be stuck in the shadow of the tree until nightfall, no matter what ran up and tried to kill me, as tended to happen in the Digital World. I didn't want to burst into flames!

"Not until tonight, no," Tai said dully. "I'm kinda surprised you aren't asleep. Even vampires-in-training are supposed to be nocturnal." I laid back down, heaving a sigh as the frigid dew on the grass sped the healing of my sunburn. My brunette companion, his breath still slow from his hibernation, lay beside me, propping his head on his hands. "Pretty morning."

"Yes, it is."

"I'm hungry."

"Of course you are, you're Tai."

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really."

"Damn it!" I snorted when I realized he meant vampiric hunger. He still wanted me to change him. "Not at all? Don't you feel funny at all?"

"No. Actually, I feel better than ever before." Tai seemed interested. He rolled onto his stomach, resting his chin in his palms. His eyes glittered with curiosity, a relaxed line of lip.

"Really? What about your back?"

"It feels fine now."

"Can I see?" I couldn't think of any ulterior motives Tai might have for seeing my back, so I complied. I sat up and turned my back on him, feeling without feeling that he had drawn closer to me. Once again I found myself afraid, because these senses simply _were not human_. I was, once again, afraid of myself.

I found myself focused solely on him, trying to ignore the drumbeat I could hear in his chest as he inexplicably moved closer to me. I could even feel my own heart pumping, speeding and slowing, my trying to match the rhythm of his. I felt a small and empty pain travel from my chest to my arm, as if somebody ran a thread through my heart and tried to pull it from my chest.

It couldn't be… it just could be… No. His hand moved up towards my back, I didn't need to see it or hear it to know. There was a faint pulsing through his thumb and wrist, I could feel it, even before his hand touched my skin. When it make contact, I felt the heat of his blood, and a terrifying desire to make his heart beat faster. No. No. I didn't want to want this. That could only mean-

"Bloodlust."

"Huh?" Tai's hand moved away, and I breathed out a sigh that I didn't know I had kept contained. I forced the sound of his blood rushing out of my head by talking again.

"Go away. Now."

"Why?" He asked, reasonably enough. I whirled around at lightning speed, effectively startling the crap out of him, shuddering as I heard his heart hammering away. He took a breath to recompose himself, and smiled as he calmed down. I opened my mouth to yell at him to get away, before something bad happened, but he interrupted me. "Have I ever told you how pretty your smile is?" he asked, raising his eyebrows higher than normal.

I knew better than to assume he was hitting on me. He was hinting at something. My smile? Did that mean… crap. I ran my tongue across my upper lips, and spat out an impressive list of curses when I pricked my tongue on a sharp tooth that was longer than the others. Tai only laughed at my distress.

Somehow, having suddenly grown fangs was the same kind of embarrassment as getting an erection in gym class. I felt really, really dirty, because Tai could see as plain as day that I wanted something inside of him. And he was laughing! I would have ripped his lips off if he hadn't calmed down when he did.

His hug caught me completely off guard. "Are you sure you're not hungry?" He giggled, intentionally baring his throat slightly. I bit my lips gently, allowing the pain to remind me how horrible he was being, that I did not want any part of him like this.

"Who's seducing who?" I demanded, shoving him off me. He was still smiling.

"Who knows, who cares?" He sat on his knees in front of me, staring at me just as hungrily as I found myself staring at him. Damn it! He was smiling happily. I would have been hissing, but I didn't feel like exposing those horribly revealing fangs. "You really _are _getting hungry." It wasn't a question.

"Mind your own business!" I snapped.

"It _is_ my business!" Tai suddenly leaned forward, supporting himself on his palms and knees, all mirth gone from his face. His nose was about an inch from mine, and I could see the sudden blaze in his eyes. "They cast us out for it. They kicked you out for things beyond your control. They kicked me out because I was unconcerned. They took away Agumon and Gabumon for 'supporting vampires'. They made it seem like a crime!

"Is it a crime to support you, Matt? Really, is it? You act like it is. They act like it, too. But why! I want to help you and you're being an absolute bastard! I want to know how it is. I wanna know if it's really that stressful, or if you're being a girly little drama queen. I want to know what it's like."

A fair rant. I could think of no reply that didn't make me sound more depressed than I was.

It really was a crime to help me now.

Just because I didn't want to, that doesn't mean I hadn't began to transform into a murderous leech. I couldn't speak at all. He just stared at me, sat back after a minute or two. Just staring. He knew what I was thinking, and he knew he didn't like it. "Fuck you if you don't care. But I do." He stood and walked out into the sunlight, a very harsh reminder that I couldn't walk freely in the sun.

Also a harsh reminder of what an asshole I am.

"Where are you going?" I asked softly, trying to keep my voice smooth. It was harder than normal, the sting in my eyes revealing that I was about to cry. Suddenly my pride didn't matter, and I didn't care what state Tai saw me in.

"I'm gonna go find something to eat, since I'm obviously never going to share another meal with you." His voice was thick and bitter, the words cutting into me in a way more lethal than any blade. I lowered my eyes away from his, still seeing his scowl burned into my eyelids, allowing two tears to flee the confines of my terrible head.

By the time I looked up, Tai was gone. I could still see him, though he was nowhere in sight. I knew that I would always see him, no matter how far away he was. And I would see that horrible scowl, the one that showed how much he hated my weakness and lack of heart.

Once again, I thought I heard a bird singing. No, crying. I heard a bird crying.

What I wouldn't give to fly away.


	12. ThE bAsTaRd KiLlEd TaI

I OWN EVERYTHING! in my dreams, of course. Digimon is still owned by whomever owns it... Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon are still mine... I'm still anti-Sora... Tai is still lost and clumsy... Thanks for reviewin' Xubose and Zephyr... I think?

* * *

I shouldn't be mad at him for being right.

But I am.

Matt knew that I wouldn't really appreciate being a vampire. To be honest, I knew it too. I knew that, cool as hypnosis and superpowers and shape shifting would be, I wouldn't be able to live with myself as a murderer. But it's the only way for me to stay with him. Those freaky looks he gives me- I can only shrug them off so long, I can tell he's changing. Putting on a bold face doesn't help around vampires. They can smell fear, unlike humans.

I don't want Matt to kill me. But I know he will if I stay with him, as a human. I just want to stay with him. That's all. I know I could find some way to cope. Somebody has to be strong for him. I know him, I know he won't be strong on his own. He'll turn murderous and suicidal, he's already being a bastard.

But then, he's being a bastard for my sake. Turning me down is probably his way of saying he cares. But I should not get my hopes up.

I should be more busy not getting lost. Last time I got lost, everything went to hell. Thankfully, I knew by the sound of rushing water where the nearest river was, and that was my destination in the first place. Why? I don't know. I just felt like I ought to come out here.

The woods smelled more woodsy than normal, perhaps because I was distraught, or perhaps because the bushes were all slightly trampled and smelled of slightly decayed plant-life. Interesting. Normally, things don't decay in the Digital World. They just explode into data, get sent away to be recycled into a new being. I suppose smells still existed, and dirt still existed, so perhaps plants really could decay here. Weird.

I wonder if Izzy ever noticed it. He's a genius, after all. I wonder if I'll ever see Izzy again. I wonder... if I even want to.

I reached the river, stumbled moodily over to the bank, and dipped my hands in the cool water. I was near a bend, making the water rush slower and calmer near me. It felt good. I considered hopping in and soaking myself silly, but who knew what spiteful Digimon were lurking in those streams? I'd settle for splashing it all over my face and hair. I put my big blue goggles to use for a second, sticking them over my eyes and dunking my head under completely. When I could feel for certain that no water was leaking through the sides of my goggles, I opened my eyes to look around in the water.

For a river, it was mighty clean. It always was, in the Digital World. I could see small bit of gravel in the bottom, the slight murkiness of the water, and- what was that? There was a dark object caught on a rock about six feet away from me.

I pulled my head over the water, checking the distance. Maybe I could reach it without getting dragged away. I decided to wade over, and if there was even a shadow of a doubt that I'd be swept off, I'd just jump back again. Simple.

I rolled up the hems of my long shorts until they became short shorts, knowing how much my pants weighed when they were wet. Too much. I cautiously waded out. Oh, curiosity killed the cat. I know. But I'm a dog person. I've got the crest of Courage.

Keep in mind that I'm an idiot. If you pissed in my ear and told me it was raining, I might believe you.

I was lucky. I reached the spot without a hitch, without tripping, without drowning. Without being killed like a cat. It was hard to feel around in the frozen water, but I found the dark object that got hooked onto a rock, and I pulled it up with inquisitive eyes.

It was a pale green hat, with bright lime trim, to fit a small circular head. There was a blue plastic bead, almost the size of my fist, in the center of the forehead. I knew this hat. It belonged to TK. It belonged to matt's little brother.

I was instantly washed over with panic. TK would never let anything bad happen to his hat. What if he had fallen in this very river and drowned? There wasn't a soul to be seen around the river. There appeared to be nothing wrong with the hat.

But when I flipped the hat upside-down, look inside it, I understood. My fist clenched around the soft material. A high whimper rose from my throat. I had to get back to Matt. I had to go back at that very second. He would just about die from worry and rage when he saw it. Hell, I might die from worry and rage, even if the blond doesn't kill me for bearing bad news.

On the inside of the hat, painted in blood that had frozen to the fabric, were the words "He is Ours". I could only assume the vampires got TK and had known I would find their message. But why would they want TK?

Maybe this goes back to them telling Matt they would "use him as bait to get Tai and TK". Well, crap. Maybe Matt will have a guilt trip if I show this to him. But shouldn't he know? Yes, yes, he SHOULD know. He has a right to know. God, he's going to kill me when he sees this.

No, really. He will.

I held the hat tight in my hand as I sloshed out of the water , heading back the way I came. I might be able to find the clearing with the tree well enough. Might. I was in such a state that I ran, looking desperately for a landmark, but seeing nothing remarkable. It was a forest, a forest of plain boring trees. Nothing more. There was no such thing as a fucking landmark. I was lost again.

And I was tripping on roots again, too. Not again. Not now. I had to reach Matt. Oh, this will kill him. Oh, he's gonna kill me. And here I am, tripping on roots, and probably walking in circles again. The sky was beginning to get cloudy again. Maybe, if it was cloudy, Matt could leave the shadow of the tree. Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon could walk around in cloud cover, after all.

"Matt!" I screamed out, after a few minutes of lost frustration. "Matt, can you hear me? I'm sorry! Where are you?" I didn't expect an answer, but I was praying. I tried calling out again. Nothing. With one of my dramatic sighs, I kept walking. And tripping. Can't forget tripping.

The next few minutes seemed to last forever. Between the tree roots, the steadily darkening sky, me being abandoned, Matt being a vampire, and the clues in TK's hat, my current life sucked dead monkey balls.

After tripping for the 37th time (yes, I WAS counting) I was so irritated that I felt no obligation to get up again. There was no reason whatsoever. I was lost, calling out wouldn't do shit to help me. I was lost, TK was in danger, and poor Matt must have been sulking in the shadows, angry at the both of us for being who and what we are. And by getting up and walking again, all I would do was prove that the world was really starting to get to me.

"Tai?" A soft voice whispered. It was female. Crap. That meant either one of the Tai-Hating-Digidestined or one of the Tai-Hungry-Digimon had found me. I didn't know which was worse. I didn't want to look up, because I knew I would be doomed anyway. "Tai, are you okay? He didn't… You have to be okay... Tai, please get up!"

It was high pitched. Definitely Mimi. I felt the tip of a leather boot poke me gently in the side. I flinched, but showed no other sign of being alive. I might have been holding my breath. I don't know why, but I just didn't want her to think for a second that I was alive. "Tai!" Mimi said, more urgently. Her leather gloved hand shook my shoulder fiercely. Oh, go to hell, Mimi. I closed my eyes, feeling slightly lightheaded from withholding my breath. There was another poke in my side, then silence. My chest began to hurt…

I heard the patter of feet running away from me, and Mimi was shrieking, "He killed Tai! The bastard KILLED TAI!"

I finally looked up, and saw that Mimi had vanished from sight. My breathe started to come naturally again. Now might be a good time to disappear. People would be pissed if they found me playing dead. Now that Mimi had totally lost her mind and cried wolf, a vanishing 'corpse' could do no further damage.

I stood, shook some dirt off, picked a random direction, and walked away from yet another one of my responsibilities.


	13. He Is NoT a PuNcHiNg BaG

**I still no own Digimon... I still own Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon... I still have no motivation... Thanks, Zephyr, Xubose.**

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**CHAPTER THIRTEEN- Kyuuketsukimon's P.O.V**

"Man, would you look at that gullible bastard?" I giggled, as Tai's brown mop of hair walked deeper into the cloudy woods. He had a slight limp to him, from tripping and damaging his knees so many times.

"That 'gullible bastard' is my fiancé," Chibikyuuumon hissed. I laughed loudly, in spite of her acid glare.

"Whom you've freshly beaten up. You're so abusive, Chibi." I got a hard slap across the face, but I didn't feel it. I'm that much stronger than her. "I mean that. I don't think Tai will live long enough to make a good husband for you."

"Only because you keep pissing me off!" Chibi snarled, grabbing the collar of my pink shirt. I only laughed louder.

"Did I provoke you, back there at the campsite? Silly Chibi, you still think the world is flawed when you're the only problem-" Smack. "- and you still think you can get away with marrying somebody against their will, even when you haven't got a heart to love him with?" Smack. I was trembling with laughter, both because Chibikyuuumon's hands were soft and weak, and because her mind was twisted.

My long black hair swished behind me as I shook my head, wanting to say nothing more. Tai was still near; it would be horrible if he heard us. It would be even worse if I pissed off Chibi too much and she decided to kill him. That would really blow, how would I explain that to Matt? 'Yeah, I love you baby, by the way, my little pal killed your best friend, I hope you don't mind'… yeah right.

"Where's he going, anyway? Trying to find Matt again?" Chibi demanded, trying to calm herself by changing the subject. I nodded, closing my red eyes. "I do hope Matt doesn't hurt him to badly. I'd hate to turn him right in front of your fiancé."

"Yeah, I somehow get the feeling that wouldn't work out very nicely."

Did I tell you that we're hiding inside a hollowed-out tree? Well, we are. It's a good thing we don't have to breath, because the air in here is extremely musty. We've been here for a few hours, waiting for Tai to step past so we could see him. Chibi, a few inches away from me, was looking out the hole in the tree with an expression of disdain.

"Think we should check on the kid?"

"You do it," I said dismissively. "He's probably hungry and bored."

"Come with me, Kyuu." I slowly turned to her, giving a loud hiss and flashing her with an extremely fanged view of my face. She moved back a fraction of an inch, a still noticeable amount, accidentally proving that I still had some power over her.

"Who is your master?" I asked softly. "To whom do you owe yourself?" I heard the smaller Digimon inhale once, restoratively. Her red eyes fell shut for a minute, than slid open and tinted yellow.

"You, Kyuuketsukimon."

"Do you remember why?"

"Because…" I could see the dim glow of her eyes as they narrowed, pupils contracting into vertical slits as she glowered. "Because I failed to kill you when I was told to."

"Exactly. Good girl. Go check on that little cutesy-pie Digidestined, if you're worried about him." Still giving me a glare that could melt holes in walls and curdle fresh milk, Chibikyuuumon wriggled her way out of the hole in the tree. For a moment, her lacy black dress caught on a branch, and I got a good laugh out of watching her hang upside-down by the hem of her skirt. Her body rigid, she crossed her arms, obviously miffed about having her underwear exposed.

"It's not funny."

"Yes it is," I giggled, helping to untangle her by cutting off that part of her dress. She landed smoothly onto the forest floor, doing a back flip on her way down to prove that she was still strong. Then she ran. I crawled out of the hole after her, following at a distance.

It didn't take me long to realize that she was headed towards Tai, rather than our cave. That wasn't a good thing. Chibi could run faster than me. Cursing myself for not doing this earlier, I broke into a run, having no real desire to watch my little friend rip Tai apart for stress relief.

"Chibi, WAIT!" I cried out, amazed that she actually stopped and turned towards me. I caught up in a couple seconds. "Don't go crazy on me."

"Or Tai?"

"Or Tai. He's a human, not a punching bag." The dark Digimon looked down at the ground, obviously taken aback by this realization. I smiled. "Come on, Chibi. Let's go check on T.K."


	14. ThE fIrSt TiMe

_**I do not own Digimon, but I own Kyuuketsukimon and Chibikyuumon! This chapter contains, uh, very mild lime. And VERY HEAVY VAMPIRISM! This goes out to you sickos who, like me, havea vampire fetish!**__**

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_**CHAPTER FOURTEEN- Tai's P.O.V**_

I've read a lot of books. I've watched a lot of movies. Nobody can ever agree, in any story or movie, what a vampire's bite is supposed to feel like. Some folks all start screaming and crying and fighting back, because it hurts so damn much. Some pass out instantly. Some moan and writhe weakly. Some, well, some get horny and start screaming out how much pleasure they're feeling, which I find kind of sick.

And even after getting bitten myself, I can't quite explain how it feels either. But I'll try.

Nobody can ever agree, in any story or movie, what effects a vampire bite will have on somebody. Some think you instantly turn into a vampire if you're bitten. Some believe there must be an exchange of blood. Some would swear you have to marry your victim, or take them in as your child or slave. There's even some that think too many sequential vampire bites will turn somebody into a werewolf.

Even after getting bitten myself, I can't honestly I say I know what'll become of me. It's too early to tell if I'm going vamp, and it'll be weeks until the next full moon. Matt certainly didn't marry me, enslave me, or adopt me. I probably would have noticed if he had. How dumb do you think I am?

Matt remembers nothing from his unlife-changing experience, and he insists that's a good thing, but I'm unsure. We need to know the rules if we're being forced to play this game. Which, yes, we are. Because Chibikyuuumon and Kyuuketsukimon seem to think it's fucking hilarious to fuck with our fucking souls. That was redundant, ne?

Perhaps I should explain what happened, because once again I'm getting ahead of myself. Maybe the bite made me see the future! Or, maybe you've noticed that I got freakishly poetic for a minute there. I wish I knew whether or not that was a sign.

On with the explanation.

After having 'accidentally' convinced Mimi that I was dead, I got up and ran off in a random direction, being my lost self. I couldn't even find the river any more. By the time I had found my way back to Matt, the sun had already set and I was watching my back in growing anxiety.

After having found the tree where I had sat with Matt earlier that day, and searching there, I found Matt nowhere to be seen. I wasn't surprised. Now that the sun was down, he was free to leave the shadow of the tree in the meadow, so he had moved. I angrily went back in the woods, hand clenched tight around T.K's little green hat. I had leaned up against a tree in mild exhaustion…

Then Matt gave me a real heart attack, by grabbing my wrist before I knew he was even there.

"GAH!" I yelled, nearly jumping out of my skin. Then I proceeded to scream, "Don't do that, you freak!" … which meant, 'I was so worried about you!' in my own language.

Matt had this really creepy expression on his face, an extremely sad and angry look, aided greatly by his red eyes. Red? Yes, red, no longer ice crystal blue. "Matt?" I gasped. I was about to apologize for everything I said this morning, but he was too scary to talk to. He was shaking like a leaf. "Are you okay?"

"No," Matt said shortly. His expression melted into some sort of calm. But while his face relaxed, he roughly grabbed my other wrist.

"Why are you, uh, grabbing me?" I demanded. This was weird.

"I don't know," my blond companion mumbled. "But I've got a pretty good idea." He was now standing right in front of me, and for a fleeting moment I felt that I was pinned between a rock and a hard… tree. Which, in a way, I was. If Matt was a rock, I mean. Maybe he was in a past life, but not today. Today, he was a splendidly shirtless specimen of spike-haired blond angst.

And that specimen, was, uh, rather close to me. Really, really close. Since when was he that close to me?

Since when were my hands being pinned over my head like that!

"What the hell are you doing!" I croaked, my throat suddenly going dry. I didn't know whether to kick his ass for getting me in this… intimate position… or soak it up and enjoy it. He leaned into my face, fixing his eyes on mine. Ooooooo, such pretty eyes. Whoa, did I really just think that?

"You wanted it this morning," Matt whispered. "And last night, and the day before. It's a bit too late to change your mind."

Then I understood. "You're going to bite me."

"No, why would you even think that?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm. My heart gave a great skip of joy, but just as the grin was forming on my face, I remembered why I had been so dead-set on finding Matt. TK. He had to know, no matter how badly I wanted this.

"Matt, I gotta tell you something. I found-"

He silenced me with his lips. I was far too startled by this sudden kiss to complete my sentence. It's not like he slipped me the tongue, or anything. Just a peck on the lips with those soft white lips. If I was capable of rational thought, I would have considered the health ramifications of having my heart beating a thousand times per minute.

I was still gaping blissfully at nothing when Matt shifted against me, his smooth cheek brushing against mine as he moved his lips to my throat. "You smell good," he breathed. His breath was actually colder than the evening air around us, when it wreathed its way around my neck, I felt a few hairs prickle upwards. "Like pine smoke in the rain. I don't think I could let you go, even if I wanted to."

Then he bit me.

Some small noise of caught in my throat. It stung like a bitch for those first two awkward seconds. No amount of will could have stopped me from screaming and trying to struggle my way away from him. Matt held on, keeping my wrists pinned uselessly above me, teeth clamped deep in my flesh and pulling back hard, like a terrier with a rat. He quickly subdued my agonized thrashing by pressing his whole body against mine, blanketing me in flesh. I couldn't move, pinned there with that beautiful creature at my throat.

The world felt so cold. There was a building pain my heart, as if somebody had ran a thread through it, and was trying to slowly tease it out of my chest. I could feel those hot rivulets sliding gracefully down the curve on my pulsing tan neck, those drops that escaped Matt and became useless to both of us. With every stolen gasp, I could smell the metallic salty liquid.

I could only imagine what matt was feeling right now, my own coppery tendrils wrapping around his mind and ecstatic veins instead of his own. I watched the black and red haze swirl over my vision, creeping from the edges, like some malign creatures closing in on a carcass. I could hear my own heart beating loudly in my throbbing head, slowly losing it's rhythm and fumbling quieter. I could hear Matt's heart as well, their combined LUB-DUB noises like a steady pair of kettle drums.

I should have been more afraid, of death, of dying, because I naturally assumed that Matt was going to take my life. Maybe I should have been afraid of what he was making me feel. It wasn't exactly painful. Certainly, I felt like my body was on fire, I could detect that unrelenting pull at my heart. But it didn't hurt. I don't know, I want, I need, I must stop thinking. I wasn't close enough to Matt, I wanted to be closer to him, I wanted a piece of his soul to inhabit my body and vice versa. Why? I don't know.

I closed my eyes on the world and tried to keep my breaths even, though my body was burning from Matt's hunger. I assumed that's what it was. I was feeling a strong thirst, but for what I didn't know.Maybe what I felt was the pain of longing, not death. I really wished I still had power over my arms. I wanted to pull him to me, closer, if that was even possible with so much of his skin on me. I would have cried if I was strong enough. I just wanted him so bad.

I soon felt myself go numb, starting from the toes and fingers. How long was he going to hold me like this? The numbness spread to my hands, then my arms completely crapped out on me. My legs soon followed that example. As my knees buckled, I began to slip down the tree. The strange, somewhat enjoyable pain remained. Matt slid down with me. I didn't feel it when he loosed my hands, but I certainly felt his hands on my back as he gently guided my failing body to the ground. I didn't want to open my eyes. I knew that I wouldn't be able to see if I did.

It only escalated from there, my breathing becoming a bit labored by my weakness. I felt very light, like I could float away, if the breeze was strong enough. Those strings were pulling so gently at my heart, and the numbness was caressing my whole body. It all felt so distant. I sighed softly, the last of my oxygen leaving me as I began to fall away from everything, the pain receding to some secret corner in my mind. I was no longer numb, I no longer had a body at all…

I was free…

A voice was speaking to me from the emptiness. Matt? Yes, it was him. "Tai, say something…" His voice was broken and frantic. I took a deep breath, and suddenly, I was alive again.I slowly realized that I was no longer having the life sucked out of me, that Matt was shaking my shoulders gently. His fingers were very slippery. Why? I don't know. "Tai, answer me! Tai, are you okay!"

"M'fine," I whispered. I didn't open my eyes. There was no point. Even in that hazy state of mind, I was wise enough to know that I was going to faint. My mind barely registered how very slurred my voice was. "Jus sleepy. Ya gon' be okay…?"

"Me, okay?" Matt choked. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't know what I was thinking, I wasn't _sane_…" I tuned him out and tried to focus my remaining energies on clenching my fingers around TK's green hat. It was still there.

"Lookit this, Matt. I found TK's hat… ere's a note, a note in it… the vamps got 'im."

There was a moment of dizzy silence.

I passed out as the word "WHAT!" roared through the woods.


	15. I lOvE yOu

_**I still don't own Digimon... Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING, Xubose and Angel Demoness!**_

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_**CHAPTER FIFTEEN- Matt's P.O.V**_

I… am a monster. I'm a horrible, evil monster. There are no two ways to see this. From my own eyes, I'm a monster. From the eyes of my Digidestined friends, I'm a monster. Even in the eyes of the vampire that made me, I'm a monster. From her, that may be a compliment, but nonetheless I am not to be seen as human. I'm sure Tai has finally realized I'm a monster. Any point of view I take- first person, second person, third person, or even omniscient, I'm a monster.

Of course I do retain quite a bit of humanity, monstrous as I am. I still have my human looks (though altered). I still have my human conscience, which makes the whole "monster" thing much more painful. And I still have my human fear.

I don't want to find Kyuuketsukimon and Chibikyuumon's lair by myself. I don't want to face my makers alone. As much as I love T.K, as much as I frantically wish I could just rush in and snatch him from the vile clutches of the vampire Digimon, I just can't do it alone.

That's why I'm just sitting here, brooding, waiting for Tai to wake up.

He's been unconscious for a day and a half. I know he's alive. I can feel his pulse just by sitting near him. It's rather gentle, and quiet. I had really hurt him when I lost control, just another great thing to add to my list of legitimate reasons to hate myself. No, really, I am writing one. I'm carving it on the tree next to me with a rock.

REASONS TO HATE MYSELF:

I yelled at Tai

I am a vampire

I let myself get used by a vampire

I am not brave enough to save TK

I (possibly) turned Tai into a vampire

I hurt Tai

I hurt Tai a lot

Looking over the list, I find it rather awkward that more than half of my legitimate reasons to hate myself involve cruelty to Tai. I find it even more awkward that, somehow, I know he still won't hate me when he wakes up. If he ever does. I'm starting to wonder, and it's not very comforting. He doesn't seem to be dying, but he doesn't seem to be healing. How long could it possibly take to make new blood cells?

I had sat through one day, and I would have sat through another, but the presence of a warm yet defenseless body was steadily weakening my resolve. My senses kept heightening and heightening over the hours, until everything I saw or heard or touched was a burning pain, and I could even feel the small muscles surrounding my blood veins that kept my altered body running as they contracted. I felt even more guilty, knowing that my body still wanted more of that tasty little tan boy lying next to me. Fucking bloodlust.

That might be why I never went searching for something else to sink my teeth into. That guilt. I wouldn't let myself admit to enjoying the flavor of a dying innocent, and I would sooner die of starvation than leave Tai alone and unconscious in these Digimon/Vampire infested woods.

It was nearly nightfall again. Nearly two days gone by, and no sign of life from Tai save the slow yet steady breathing and his weak heartbeat. I gave myself yet another mental kick for hurting him, and allowed myself to pass out from the sharp pains of my unnatural desire.

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I awoke not much long after, not needing to feel the hand resting on my forearm to tell me that Tai had risen. I had felt his heart the second I snapped back to the land of the living. I felt like some sort of all knowing, omniscient being- I felt everything. It all burned.

Why was it such a shock to see that he had once again been cuddling me without realizing it? But maybe he had realized it this time. He was staring strait at my eyes and he made no move to move. My mind was oddly blank, given the billion swarms of thoughts that tried to invade it and the pain that tried to make me flinch. How I wanted him to hurt me. Oh, did I ever want him to hurt me, and scream at me, and leave me lying alone, half-dead, in some forlorn shadow, as I had done to him. I would have dug up all the metal in the Digital World and forged a sword especially for him, if only he would gut me with it.

But his chocolate brown eyes were clear and full of sad, affectionate trust. He just watched me. Something like pity was dripping from his every pore. I could tell just by looking at his eyes that he understood why I hadn't left his side as he slept, and that he understood how scared and angry I was. But that wasn't all that could be observed. Those little dewdrops known as tears were gathering at his eyelids, strangely making him smell like pine-smoke in the rain. His eyebrows twisted slightly into a very serious expression, not quite rage but with an equal degree of emotion.

When he opened his parched mouth to speak, I knew what was about to come. He was going to hiss some small collection of words that would eat me alive, whether they were kind or cruel, and he would abandon me as soon as he could walk. I closed my eyes, knowing I would be completely broken whether I watched his lips move or not.

"You know I love you, right?"

That was the most self-loathing moment in my life. I understand why now, but I didn't know it then. I hated myself so much because I knew, I knew in some dark corner of my mind, that I just didn't deserve Tai in any shape or form.

I burst into tears. His fingers tightened their grip on my forearm, actually causing me to croak in pain, because I could feel him pulsing slightly. "Why!" I screamed out, unable to control myself. I tried stifling my tears to hear him, though I would inevitably hear him anyway in my over-sensitivity.

"If I could come up with specific reasons, than I wouldn't really be in love, now, would I?" He mumbled. I just couldn't look at him. He probably would have looked a little queasy about the difficult subject matter, or maybe the fact that I'm crying blood all over my face… which isn't making the bloodlust go away, by the way.

I didn't say anything. It would have been very bad if I had said anything. There is no polite way to tell somebody that their love confession makes you want to crawl in a hole and die. Especially if you can FEEL how much they mean it. He remained silent as well, obviously picking up on the fact that he had picked a very bad time to state his feelings.

After a while my tears had stopped coming, my body burning too much to allow it. I knew what I had to do, but I had no clue how to go about it without fucking myself over. I had to leave Tai and find something to eat before I killed him. I probably wouldn't be able to sit still another five minutes. "Matt?"

"I have to go," I whispered.

"Myeh, I know." His response came too light to be real. I finally looked at him. His eyes were still the same, his hair just as messy and full of twigs as the time we had wrestled in the forest over the vampire fetish I jokingly accused him of having. "Got to go feed on the cute happy little creatures, Matt. We'll just have to get used to it." I would have asked what he meant by 'we' but I knew better. "But you'll come back for me, right?"

Oooooh, you dirty cheater. That puppy-eyes trick combined with my sharp perception was just too much. I ignored the sharp sting and sudden whirl of sadistic thoughts as I pulled him into my arms, holding him very close. If I hadn't been hungry before, I certainly was now, and I regretted my move the second I felt him throbbing against me. Oh, how I wanted to hurt him again. Thank god, my human brain clicked into action. I knew perfectly well that I would find some way to commit suicide if I hurt him again.

After pressing a swift kiss to his cheek- don't ask why I did that, it was a stupid impulse if there ever was one- I dropped him. "Owch!" Tai yelped, his face having bonked into a tree root.

"Sorry. I'll be back," I rasped, feeling extremely Terminator-ish. I quickly noted where he was, in relation to that one tree that grew so much taller than the rest of the forest. I wanted to be able to find him again. Than I picked my direction, noting which mountain I was running towards, and took off like a bullet.


	16. ViCtIm 2

_**Arigatou for t3h reviews, folks! Jissai, be confused no longer! Xubose, sorry to disappoint you, but there will not be any kawaii Taito-ness in the this chapter!**_

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_**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**_

I was running away from Tai for one sole reason- I didn't want to hurt anybody I cared about, never ever again. I was looking for any living being that I might survive the shame of killing. Perhaps some random Digimon. It didn't take me long to realize how fast I was running, the speed with which I noticed and evaded things- I must have been going several hundred miles per hour through dense undergrowth, and I didn't feel the whip or sting of any branch, limb, or blade of grass. I was untouchable. I might be able to take down a Digimon around Ultimate level, but I would much rather have ran into a Champion.

Amazingly, the first target I saw was a champion.

Ironically, it was Palmon. She probably didn't even have blood, the walking plant. But Mimi certainly would, and where there's Palmon, there's Mimi. I felt horrible for even thinking it. And yet… seeing Mimi at my mercy would be… glorious.

I hid myself behind a tree, in the shadows, my freakish senses assuring me that nothing with a heartbeat was anywhere within sight range. They were all a little distance away. What was Palmon doing out here, all alone… not moping, surely? No, she was looking for something. She was digging though bushes, pushing them aside and muttering to her spiky green plant self. She swatted a small bug out of her way. A bug in the Digital World? Nah, I won't dwell on it.

"Crest," I heard her mutter, in her shrill and wavery voice. A crest. A crest? A crest like my crest of friendship? Somebody lost their crest? I don't know why, but I grinned broadly at that. Without their crests, the Digimon might not be able to Digivolve… I might not have to deal with any monstrous beasts trying to blast me to oblivion… what if it was Mimi's crest of Sincerity that went missing? Oh, _delicious_.

And it was sitting on the forest floor right in front of me, I realized, half hidden under a bush. That green crest locked safely inside one of our little necklace things, a tag, that's right.

"Ah, there you are!" Palmon squeaked brightly, having come around slightly and seen it. Obviously, she hadn't seen me yet. I was about to change that. I stepped out of the shadows, placing my foot firmly on top of the tag to prevent her from getting it. The bug-eyed Digimon leapt back, bristling with shock. "Matt," She said softly, acknowledging my presence. How I could feel her amazement and fear, though there wasn't a drop of blood in her body and her voice reflected such calm. I hate chlorophyll.

"Palmon," I nodded.

"You're standing on Mimi's crest, you know."

"Yeah, I know." I moved my foot aside and picked it up, smiling at it. It looked so strange, that green tear-shaped crest in a golden tag. I had been told for years that green was the color of life, but I now knew for a fact that the true color was red. I looked back up to Palmon, who stood resolute. My smile remained in place, my (hopefully) glittery fangs set in place. I reached into the pocket of my pants, pulled out my own tag, the blue crest of Friendship, and put it back on like a necklace.

She wouldn't attack me. Not while I was a Digidestined, not while I wasn't hurting anybody. She held out her purple clawed hand, and politely asked to have the crest.

"Only if I get to hand it to Mimi." I saw the flicker of alarm in her black eyes.

"She doesn't want to see you," Palmon said clearly. Just as sincere as he partner, brave Palmon.

"But I'd like to see her," I laughed, tossing her tag in the air and catching it again. "How did she lose this tag, anyway? Did the rope snap, or did she try to get rid of it to make you weak?"

"Mimi wouldn't do that!" Palmon cried, suddenly in defense mode. My grin was growing across my face like some sort of hungry parasite.

"Well, if you're sure, than somebody had better return the tag to her." I moved my hand and tucked it gently in my pocket, letting Palmon watch my every motion. She was very agitated, and she had every right to be. "Come on. I only have all night. You don't want me to burn to a crisp in the sunlight, do you? Vampire or not, I am one of the children of destiny, and we have to save the world together."

I felt a slight pang of guilt in my gut as I said this, because I knew my words were true. That was so sad. I had no more will to save people. No, no, I didn't just the lack of will to save people. I had the desire to _kill_ people. I hate being a monster. If I had to be a monster, I didn't want to keep this conscience. Maybe, like souls, you could sell them away? I made a personal note to try selling my conscience to Joe. You could rely on him for anything.

Palmon also seemed to struggle with this logic. After quailing for a minute, she fixed her deep black bug eyes on my glowing red ones. "If you try to hurt Mimi," Palmon said slowly, "I will kill you, Matt." I knew she meant it.

I waved a hand through the air indignantly. "Why would I want to hurt Mimi!" I demanded, trying to sound hurt, though we both knew I had some very good reasons. "Look, just take me to Mimi. Please, Palmon…" I surprised myself by kneeling down to her height and grabbing her shoulders, pulling her face up to mine and looking deeply into her eyes. "I want to see Mimi. I _need_ to see Mimi. You _will _take me to Mimi, _or I'll eat salad for dinner_."

This would have been a horrible tactical error, if Palmon wasn't hypnotized.

I had expected her to wrench out of my grip and impale me on something, but instead she relaxed in my grip and nodded. "Of course, Matt. She's this way." I numbly let go of her shoulders, and she began to walk briskly in the direction I knew the others were in. I couldn't believe my awesome luck. Vampire hypnosis… Yes! I smoothly stalked along behind her, grinning. Mimi would have hell to pay for everything she had ever done to me. To everyone, in fact.

I held back when I watched Palmon walk out into a clearing. Somehow I had known exactly which shadow it was safe to stop in. The clearing Palmon had entered was lit by a small yet merry fire, surrounded by four Digidestined and seven Digimon. I amazed myself by feeling no emotion whatsoever as I saw my dear Gabumon holding a sleeping Agumon.

Izzy and Joe were passed out in slumber on top of each other, awkwardly. Izzy lay sprawled out on top of Joe's sideways belly, and the small redhead's computer lie open on top of them both. The crazy ways they sleep! Sora was curled up by herself, her body succumbing to slumber as I watched her. Mimi, however, was sitting on a log, staring deep into the fire. Her hands were tucked under her chin, and she had a very grave expression on her smooth face.

"Hello, Mimi," Palmon said simply, sitting down. I couldn't tell whether or not she was still in the trance. I really hoped she didn't tell Mimi about me. But she didn't seem to be doing anything at all, except… sitting. I suddenly had a second thought. Not about the horrible things I was about to do to Mimi, but how to get her alone. I might be able to hypnotize her as well, but for that I would have to look her in the eye for a long time, and she would probably scream for help before then. I certainly was fast, but probably not fast enough to grab her and run.

Then I got a great idea. Nothing like good old fashioned terror. I retreated about twenty feet back into the woods, and began to snap branches and twigs with loud gusto. Even over the noise I made, I heard Mimi's started and alarmed gasp. Palmon was obviously beyond my control; she whimpered out, "what was that!" Trying not to laugh, I zipped over to the other side of the camp, still in the shadows, snapping more twigs.

"Wake up! WE'RE SURROUNDED!" Mimi shrieked. I couldn't hold back the loud snort of laughter that time.

_Maybe this whole 'murder' thing is going to be fun._

… Wow, that was a creepy thought. But I wasn't about to back off. Too late. I had to do it, and the Digidestined were already scurrying about, trying frantically to find the threat. I easily leapt up, caught a branch, and swung myself into the protective darkness of the tree. _Umbra es Sanctus, _the shadows are sacred. It wasn't too long after that Mimi became separated from everyone but Palmon.

Now for the real challenge: getting her COMPLETELY alone. I slid back down the tree to follow the alarmed pair. Mimi's brown gloved hands were at her lips, and I think if she wasn't wearing gloves, she would be biting her nails. Her soft brown eyes were full of alarm. Her long brown bangs swayed from side to side as she looked around urgently. I couldn't decide whether I needed to grab Mimi and run like lightning, or spin Palmon's neck 361 degrees. Despite how appalling option 2 was, option 1 was likely to get me caught and killed. I could move fast on my own, but carrying Mimi might change that.

Maybe there was another way. The simplest way.

I waited another minute, letting the pair get completely lost as I followed. With the frightened girl in such close proximity, it was getting difficult to control myself. It was different next to Tai. He wasn't afraid of me; there were no flashes of desire to make him run from me, screaming. I had no desire to hurt him. Mimi, I wanted to make her scream, and I found it difficult to keep myself from forcing her to do so to soon. I didn't want to be caught so soon.

I cleared my throat rather loudly. They froze. I smiled slightly as Mimi jumped almost imperceptively, and her heart was screaming. "Who are you?" She squeaked, spinning in circles. Her dark pink dress swayed beautifully near her ankles as she twisted. Palmon wanted to stand between her partner and danger, but didn't know where to stand. "Matt? Tai? K-Kendra?" I fell in love with the terrified tremor in her voice. I absolutely had to hear it again. I held still. "Come out!" The tremor was gone. Too bad. So sad.

I stepped out. Mimi stepped back, her eyes wide. Palmon leapt between me and Mimi. I couldn't stop smiling. I was amazed that neither of them were calling out for help. How foolish. With those motions complete, the world suddenly became very still. Mimi's body slowly and gracefully slunk back into a slightly on guard yet brave stance, feet spread slightly, arms crossed.

"Come to beg for mercy, murderer?" She hissed acidly.

That threw me off guard.

"I haven't killed anyone," I said in confusion, before I could stop myself. How very intimidating. I kicked myself mentally.

"I saw what you did to Tai, you sick cannibal! You killed him and just left him for dead in the woods, all alone! Was he alive when you left him, or did you hang around to watch!" Her voice was rising in volume, but not enough to alert the other Digidestined to the situation. Her eyes were flashing like lightening.

My mind was racing faster than my feet ever could.

"He's dead?" I choked out. "He can't be! He seemed fine when I left! He was recovering! He even told me-" I cut myself off before I could reveal Tai's scandalous desires.

"You don't ACCIDENTALLY kill people, Matt." Mimi must have grown a spine over the last few days, because she stepped around Palmon and marched right up to my face. She was close enough for me to count her eyelashes. I gaped. "Vampires just don't do that. You can't accidentally eat somebody to their death. You wanted him dead. WHY?"

"He's not dead!" I hissed, surprising myself as my snakelike fangs slid back into place. I heard the shuffle as Palmon stepped back a little, and I knew she was waiting for the some sort of sign that she should strike. "And I don't want him to die, either." I could see the doubt in her eyes. It almost felt like a challenge. I wanted to convince her that I wasn't a murderer… before I killed her. Whoa, how messed up is that?

Then it hit me that I had no reason to keep secrets from a doomed child. I smiled and leaned forward, pressing my forehead against hers and letting her throbbing body drive me insane.

"Do you know what he said, right before I left? He said he loved me, Mimi. He said he loved me, and he told me to go feed off the innocent little creatures, because we'll both have to get used to that fate."

Mimi's brown eyes grew a little wider.

"You turned him?" She breathed, voice forced and teeth clenched.

"Nah, he just wants me to. Wants to be with me forever, you see. It's sweet."

"But you killed him!" She growled, at a loss. "I saw his body in the woods!"

"He was alive and recovering ten minutes ago..."

Mimi suddenly drew back, staring at me with her mouth hanging open slightly. "I saw him two days ago," She whispered. Her voice had the tremor back in it. "He must have been asleep or faking it…"

"Yes, probably. He hates your bitchy pink guts, Mimi." I don't know whether or not that was the truth, but I felt like saying it. My pink-clad victim's eyes narrowed, and shifted towards Palmon for a second. "Are you going to kill me, Palmon? I'm still one of the Digidestined." I heard a loud exclamation of disgust from Palmon, and I brushed it off with a smirk.

"You're not one of us now," Mimi spat, not quite softly. "You're just a monster!" Her hand swung out towards me, but it seemed to move in slow motion. I caught her weak wrist with ease, and on sudden impulse, dragged it to my mouth for a mocking kiss. She shuddered and tried to pull her arm away from me, unaware that her enraged panic was making me salivate.

"Isn't that what vampires are supposed to do? Kiss the pretty little damsels they intend to slaughter? I think it's your fault I'm like this, Mimi. You're the one who insisted I was a monster- and look at me, I took your advice! Here I am, trying to seduce a damsel for a midnight snack! Of course, you're probably the ugliest damsel I could have picked-"

At those words, Palmon completely lost her mind. I think she was too angry even to use her fancy Digimon attacks. She just screamed out something unintelligible, and leapt at me. My response was automatic- my arm swung out, collided with her head, and sent the talking vegetable sailing back into the forest with a sickening crunch. I could see the flash of light as she de-digivolved in the bushes.

"Palmon! Mimi!" I heard Izzy's voice call out. We'd been found, or at least heard. The other Digidestined were coming, but I wasn't done yet.

"Come with me," I breathed in Mimi's ear. I hadn't noticed until then how much she was struggling. I hadn't even noticed the way I had snaked my arms around her and locked her helplessly to my body.

I took a second-long glance at my surroundings, finding the way I had to run to get back to Tai. I then raised my arms slightly, lifting Mimi off the ground to make her easier to carry, and ran. She was an awkward load to carry, but I knew I was still moving faster than the other Digidestined could ever move. No matter how loud Mimi was screaming, no matter how fast they ran, they would never be able to save her now.


	17. BaKa KyUuKeTsUkI!

**_I still don't own Digimon, but Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon are mine! MINE, ALL MINE! So tell me... is Kyuuketsukimon weird, or is she weird?_**

**_Xubose- Yes, master. XD Or perhaps, NO, master. You shall see, you shall see if Mimi lives or not! But that will not be revealed in this chapter, because I'm an evil skank! MWAHAHA!_**

**_Zephyr- My thoughts exactly._**

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN- Kyuuketsukimon's P.O.V **_

The funny thing about fledglings is, they're hungry little buggers. I know I was. And, ugh- Chibi, she once got so hungry that she tried to bite a tree. A TREE, did you hear me, a TREE! Matt's got the best restraint I've ever seen in a vampire so young. After his first couple weeks, it's likely that he won't have to drink again for a month or two.

But since he's still so new, there's no telling what he's up to. Hence why I'm walking around in the woods, looking for him. I don't really care what he does to the other Digidestined, but if he hurts Tai too badly, Chibi will kill him. I can't have that. Matt is mine. Mine and nobody else's.

Perhaps an explanation is due- like, the whole reason we targeted Matt and Tai in the first place. It might be a little hard to understand if your senses are weak, but here's the truth. It was their smell that made us notice them. For the longest time, we've been searching for anything that gave off a certain smell- pine smoke in the rain.

To us, that smells like love. Mortal noses can't detect it, since it's not really a physical scent. But to us, it's there. Humans and vampires always smell like that when they're near their soul mate, or mates in some cases.

We were quite shocked, really, when on our nightly walk we stumbled on two boys arguing in the forest- both smelling like heaven, and by the way they were fighting, they couldn't be mates. They had to be ours, see? I couldn't help it but dash out and run my fingers through one's hair, but I had to run away again before they saw me. Chibi and I unanimously decided, not long after, that we had to ensnare the pair of them and find out whether or not they were our soul mates.

I really should have explained the circumstances to them before turning Matt, but I just couldn't wait. See, no matter how well Chibi and I plan things out, we never follow our plans. Thanks to that, they all hate me. But I will fix this. I will fix this tonight, when I find Matt. I tried to fix it before, by befriending the Digidestined, but Tai spoiled it.

I wasn't really surprised when I found Matt pinning that pink chick to a tree. Out of respect, I figured, what the hell- I'll let him finish off his dinner before I confront him. It actually wasn't too traumatizing to watch; it was almost like watching a cute couple making out. Sure, the small moans and mumbles from that girl weren't exactly formed of ecstasy. But it wasn't in any way frightening. If anything, it was a small bit of a turn-on. If you're sick, which I am.

I was a little surprised, however, when he dropped her. Why surprised? She was still alive. She just lay there in an unconscious heap, and my scented blond prize slowly sat down next to her, watching her breath. His expression was unreadable. "This was a mistake," he said softly, to nobody in particular. "I shouldn't have hurt Mimi. She might have made some dumb mistakes, but she's… my friend…"

"I thought she abandoned you?" I asked loudly, coming out of hiding. It was my way of saying hello, interrupting his verbalized internal monologue. He turned slowly to me, his expression still as blank as a book report from Tai. I half expected him to get up and try to kill me, the way Tai had.

"Yes, she did." I smiled as he dropped his gaze back down to the fallen child. Maybe we would be able to have a civil conversation today. He straightened out her body, even gently tucking her dress back into place. He didn't want to look at me. "But if she understood that I'm still myself, she might take that back."

Still smiling, I walked over to him and set my hand on his shoulder. "Don't you hate me?" I asked softly.

"Yes," He snapped, still keeping his eyes averted. He seemed rabid for a second, but then he quickly faded back into blankness. "But there's no point in trying to hurt you, is there? You're stronger than me, I'm already a vampire, and damaging you would only make me less human."

"There's a smart lad," I laughed, tickling his shoulder lightly. "If you didn't hate me, you'd have to be an idiot, and I'd have to smack you. But I'm glad you don't hate me too much, so I'll just hug you." And so I did.

I didn't expect the enraged crimson tears I saw when he looked back up at me. "Why did you turn me into a monster?" he demanded, in a broken voice.

I had no choice but to sit beside him and offer some explanation. I wasn't quite ready to tell him about the whole love scent thing, but… "I'm a bit impulsive, and you smelled wonderful. When I hurt you, I just couldn't bear the idea of you being dead, so I turned you instead. See, I'm not all bad, am I? Sure, I'm a denizen of darkness with a sick urge to bathe in the blood of innocent children and puppies, but hey, I'm a good person! I tried to apologize for it, but-"

"But then you decided you'd rather kidnap my brother."

Flinch. I didn't see that coming. But, at least, telling the truth would be easy this time.

"Nah, Chibi did that. It was such a stupid thing to do. I have no idea what she wanted to achieve from it, but she's probably playing tic-tac-toe with him at this very second. Maybe he's safer with Chibi than with the other Digidestined, those paranoid little ticks." He nodded slowly. He was still staring, transfixed, at the cold and pale girl who's breathing was becoming steadily shallower. I saw no point in talking any more at the moment. He was obviously busy digesting my words and his own actions.

After a few silent minutes, I shook my head and snapped my fingers in his face. "She's going to die," I told him simply. His fingers tensed for a moment, but he said nothing and didn't move. "I can stop it, you know. She might not necessarily live, but she wouldn't be dead." He finally looked at me.

"Don't you dare," he hissed. For a moment, his red eyes flashed white and his face deformed slightly, almost serpentine. I only smiled wider.

"So you want her to die?" He groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"Ugh, I messed up so bad," he choked.

"It can be fixed!" He hissed again, refusing the look at the world. "Maybe," I whispered, leaning right into his ear, "if she got a taste of what it was like to be a vampire… She might welcome you back with open arms." Surely he wouldn't refuse that logic? "If she dies now, the others will know you killed her. They'd never let you back." He kept shuddering, but I somehow knew he wasn't crying anymore. "Surely you'd like to know exactly how one makes a vampire."

His eyes were on me in a millisecond. I grinned. So easily manipulated. His eyes narrowed- not with anger, but with defeat. "How does one make a vampire?" He asked slowly. I laughed, and before he could react, I grabbed his shirtless form and dragged him to my body.

"For starters," I giggled, "You have to drink the blood of the person you intend to turn." He nodded numbly. For a moment, I wanted to demonstrate by nipping at him, but I knew he wouldn't like that. "Then you give it back, force-feed them."

"And they wake up after it's all done, then spend three days turning?" He finished. I shook my head.

"Nope. After they get their blood back, you have to wait until the poor sucker dies. If it goes right, they come back to life a few seconds later, but if not… well, we'll get to that later. Then they have to be bitten again, and then they have to bite you back- no force-feeding allowed. Then, one more little transaction, and… ba-ding! The microwave door pops open, and out comes a pissy little fledgling!" I waved my arms and made a real show of myself. This didn't have the effect I wanted.

"I bit you willingly?" Matt gasped. For a second, his eyes did a perfect imitation of a set of dinner plates. "Twice!"

"Yup. It was delicious," I giggled, remembering that fun night. "And then I brainwashed you. You always have to brainwash fledglings so they don't remember how to turn people, Matt. They shouldn't have that kind of power until they're trusted to be sane."

"So, you think I'm sane. That makes you truly individual," Matt sarcastically hissed. "But what did you mean by brain-"

"Hypnotize and tell them to forget, brainwash, same thing," I said dully. "Are you going to turn her or not?" Matt suddenly looked slightly alarmed.

"About how long do you have to wait between, uh, turning people? I mean, doesn't it hurt to have them bite you? Do you have to wait days to feel good enough to do it to somebody else?"

I looked him over carefully, judging him in every aspect. "You'd rather turn somebody else," I stated. He slowly nodded. "Who? If you turn Tai, I'll have to smack you, and Chibi will rip you a new asshole… then stuff it with garlic." He cringed. It answered my question perfectly. "But I think you should. She'd probably get pissed off for no reason and kill him instead of turning him. I'll give you a muffin if you turn him and spare him the wrath of Chibi."

"Do you always take two opposing opinions on everything?" He asked blankly.

"Yes," I laughed. "I'd rather make the person I'm talking to think, than have to think for myself. Although, now that I think of it, that's stupid…" Matt snorted, clearly amused. But he stopped a second later.

"Can I still eat muffins?"

"Yeah. Oh look, she's dying." That certainly caught his attention. He bit his lip, looking frantic, as if it was a really hard decision to make. "Say, I could turn her for you!" He gave me a very odd look, at that one.

"I thought you said that you have to drink the blood of the person, so that you'd be feeding their own blood back to them," he mumbled. "She doesn't exactly have much blood left to take." I thought for a moment.

"Not in her body, no." The plan was already formed and I wasn't changing it this time. I set my hand down on his shoulder and tapped my claw-like nails gently on his skin. I grinned broadly and let my fangs slide into place. "But there's plenty of her blood in you."


	18. AwWwWwWwWwWwW!

_**I won the rights to Digimon. Those suckers now know to respect my amazing talents in the game of "Go Fish"... nah, kidding. I wish.**_

_**Plenty o reviews this time? Thanks to those people who haunt my story! Especially Xubose (thanks for hating Matt! scoff) and Joya (Thanks for reviewing every freaking chapter... Jesus, you're FREAKY! XD)**_

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_**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN- Tai's P.O.V**_

I was asleep when he came back, but that didn't change much. The second he returned, my brain went CLICK! and I was awake. It must have been about three in the morning. The stars were half-covered in could, and the moon's illumination of the clouds combined with the tall dark trees made the woods seem like a horror movie set. Add one sexy vampire, and BING! Instant horror movie!

Shoving aside a slightly appealing mental image of Matt biting me, I looked him over. He was standing slightly crookedly, as if he had tweaked an ankle or something. I noticed about that his chest was very bloodied up. Then I saw that his hair was matted with it, and that there were distinct crimson tracks running down his face that proved he had been crying. That was the only thing that worried me. I would have been alarmed if he came back _not_ dripping blood all over the place, after going off hunting in the woods. But the tears?

"What happened?" I croaked. It was only when I attempted to speak that I realized how horribly thirsty I was. I hadn't had anything to drink in… three days? I needed water. I tired to push that thought out of my mind.

Matt just gave me a very odd look. "For want of a drink, the world turns to dust," he rasped in a haunted voice. He sat down beside me in an exhausted heap, hanging his head and perfecting the image of 'angst pretty-boy vampire'. I slowly sat up and moved closer to him, cautiously keeping my distance. Sure, he looked like he needed solace (and kisses… and licks… and nips) but he was also looking slightly dangerous. Maybe it's the fact that all his muscles are tensed up.

"Um… are you okay?" I asked stupidly.

"Yes, but Mimi isn't." I didn't get it. I just stared at him. Maybe I wasn't as awake as I thought I was. "I bit her, and refused to let Kyuuketsukimon turn her." I tried not to show it, but my mind was suddenly whirling in confused circles. Mimi? He bit Mimi? Kyuuketsukimon was with him? But didn't he want to rescue his brother? What's this bullshit about turning Mimi? He turned to look at me, and I was startled to realized that he was very, very much pissed off. His eyes were glowing white, his whole face strained with stress.

"Matt? I don't get-"

"Idiot," he hissed. "I bit Mimi and gave in to my…" His voice suddenly became rather hard, overflowing with hatred and resentment. "My darling massssssster."

I weakly leaned back away from him, and fixed my own eyes on his. "Darling?" I repeated dangerously. "You darling master. Darling." I have no idea why I was acting so weird about this. Maybe my brain leapt to the wrong conclusion and I felt stung by jealousy. Maybe I just didn't like word darling. Whatever it was, I felt rage boiling up in me.

"Yes, Tai, my _darling_ master. Kyuuketsukimon wants to be my wife, have my babies, and bake muffins for me every morning."

I had no idea what to say to this. My mouth hung open as I tried to collect my wits and figure out what that meant. Did he literally mean that Kyuuketsukimon had… asked him to marry her?

Then he laughed, his voice becoming extremely smooth all of a sudden. The sound almost resembled bells ringing. His warped face relaxed and became human again, his eyes fading back to red. His muscles relaxed, and I as too stunned by this change to react when he set a hand on my shoulder. I was beyond confused now.

"I'm joking, you idiot… I've made peace with her, but the bitch still gets on my nerves. She's the queen of compulsiveness, and she likes to both threaten and congratulate me in one sentence. It makes no sense. My darling master is completely insane."

I shook my head slowly. That didn't help. "How could you make peace with her? She ruined you."

"She just walked up to me and started talking," Matt whispered. As he did so, his arms wrapped around me and his head came to rest on my shoulder. I was still a bit too weak to move my own body, let lone his; but this was rather enjoyable. His heavy body was quite warm. My only complaint was that he smelled heavily of blood. "I was so busy feeling sorry for myself after I hurt Mimi, and she could have used that against me. But, no, she only wanted to talk."

"And what did she say?" I demanded on sudden curiosity. I felt his smile as I absently ran my hand through his smooth blond hair. It felt very, very nice as it curled through my fingers. He wasn't recoiling in disgust at my touch? Awesome.

"Some shit about me smelling nice," he sniggered. "She said she bit me because I smelled nice. Did I mention she's compulsive?" I almost laughed at that as well, but it really wasn't funny. The mention of nice smells made me recall something several days back, and with a sudden realization, I shoved Matt off of me. "Wha- Tai, what's wrong?" He demanded, alarm written all over his moonlit face.

"You did the same thing."

"What?"

"Right before you bit me, you said I smelled nice," I reminded him. "You bit me because I smelled nice. Like, what was it, rain?"

"Pine smoke in the rain," he corrected me. "But you've always smelled like that. At least, ever since I started noticing smells even more." I breathed out a sigh. "Jesus, I- nn…" he suddenly clapped a hand on his head, as if it hurt him.

"What is it?"

"I dunno. My head hurt for a second. Oh- right, vampires and the whole thing about scriptures… As I was saying," here he looked up at me with a very serious glare, "what is you problem? One second you're saying you love me, and the next, you push me away- acting like I'm gonna eat you alive!"

"F.Y.I, you already did," I stated. I wasn't mad about it, but I knew he was, and I wanted him to accept his actions. I didn't expect him to get as mad as he did. He grabbed my shoulders and pressed his forehead to mine, forcing me to look into his eyes, which were once again starting to glow white.

"I can only control myself so well, Tai," He hissed. I just realized he had blood on his lips, as well. "I know I messed up, but you're recovering, so you can shut the hell up about it! I'll find some way to pay you back, but in the meantime, just shut up! I hadn't meant to do it!"

"But you did it anyway," I said without thinking. His crimson lip pursed, and I could feel his hands shaking as he held me locked in place. That meant that, once again, he was using anger to mask his fear. I had pushed this conversation too far. I had to calm him down.

"I'm so sorry, Tai." His voice had fallen so much that I barely heard it. "Vampire or not, I'm a monster. Maybe I would still be a monster even if I were still human." His voice cracked, but before he would shed a tear, he looked away and tried to think of something else. His face fell into shadow as he turned away from the moon. Matt hates to cry. He always did, and I think he always will. It's one of those things that make him Matt.

I had to stop that train of though before it became even more destructive. I lightly grasped his chin and forced him to face me. Regret was written in his eyes. "Your crimes against me were so heinous and cruel that I told you I loved you as soon as I could. You're so malign and dangerous that I want to hold you and whisper corny poems in your ears. Don't you understand?" Wow, that really was rather poetic. I was kind of impressed with myself once the words finished tumbling out.

Matt's eyes widened, and he moved slightly to look away, but I managed to hold his gaze. "No," he whimpered. I suddenly felt incapable of describing this properly, and I nervously clutched my dark blue shirt closer to my body.

"I guess the best I can say is, I like your dark side? Or, maybe, your dark side isn't as dark as you think. Er, both of those are true." His eyes softened slightly. I felt captivated by the patterns the small blood vessels in his irises had formed, and the color in itself was quite lovely. Perhaps I only wanted to hold his gaze because I couldn't bear to look away; not because I was scared he would never look at me again.

"So, you don't think I'm evil."

"I don't think you're evil," I echoed. "Evil creatures don't cry or come running to their buddies for help when they mess up. Evil creatures don't starve themselves for days to stand watch over people they accidentally hurt." On a sudden whim, I added, "They don't look as pretty as you do right now, either."

"Pretty?" Matt murmured. His eyes opened up rather wide, and the look he fixed me with was one of complete astonishment. I only smiled. He wouldn't hit me this time, I knew that for a fact. "You think I'm _pretty_?"

"Yup," I laughed lightly. "Fangs and all." He still seemed too shocked to do anything, but his body fell slightly forward and his nose was just an inch away from mine. "I meant that, you know." His expression slowly faded from shocked to bashful, a look I had never before seen on his pale features.

Maybe I was insane. A little horny, perhaps. Maybe I was just really, really thirsty. But all of a sudden, the still wet blood on his lips was begging to be kissed off. So that's what I did. You know what the best thing of all was? He didn't stop me.

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First footnote ever, and all I can say is AWWWWWWW, 


	19. JoUrNaL oF a PlAnT vAmPiRe

_**Hallo! More thank-you's to JOYA, who dilligently follows this story's every move like the creepy yet hilarious personshe is... also to Cassy who seems to like kisses, Xubose (my favorite scoff! Luff you!) And the Kaiser that glomped me. I like Kaisers, by the way. Both the influential people AND the rolls are very very tasty. Mmmmmmm, human meat rolls... ahem**_

**_Forgive me for doing this filler chapter through the eyes of T.K. It says a lot about Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon, characters whom I think need to be expressed more._**_**

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_**CHAPTER NINETEEN- T.K'S P.O.V**_

Chibikyuumon is nicer than I thought she was. When I found out how she hurt Tai, I was really scared of her and I hoped I'd never see her again. When she kidnapped me, I thought she was gonna kill me. When she took me all the way to her secret cave, I was even more scared, because I thought she was going to bite me and turn me into a monster, like she did to Matt.

But she only pretends to be evil. In the end, she's cuter than Mimi was. But she pretends she isn't.

Sigh… I miss Mimi. I know Matt hurt her. Sora didn't let me see her body, but she showed me the note Matt left with her, which apologized for everything and talked about how much he misses us. It said he had wanted to find a Digimon for dinner, but he found us instead. He said he would probably kill himself if it happened again.

I'd never seen Joe get so mad. When he saw Mimi, he actually started screaming cusswords and he even kicked Gomamon without saying he was sorry.

Here, I'll back up in time so this makes a little more sense. When she dragged me to the cave, she had me blindfolded, so I wouldn't know which way to go if I escaped. When I got to the cave, she took the blindfold off. She showed me the chains on the wall, and she said, "If you aren't a good little boy, those chains will catch you and eat you." That scared me.

After showing me the chains, she showed me the bathroom and kitchen. She showed me where I would sleep while I stayed there- in a hole hidden under her bed, and that was lined with a bunch of really soft pillows. It was actually really cozy.

I didn't know what to do there but sit around. Since she kidnapped me right before sunset, I was really sleepy and hungry, but she was all wide awake. She never really had to eat anything that wasn't alive and begging for mercy, so she didn't know how to make any food for me, though she had plenty of it. So we had to wait for Kyuuketsukimon to get home. She was actually really bored too.

That's when I found out how nice she could really be. We wouldn't play tag, because she'd get too "into the game" and try to eat me. We considered hide-and-seek, but then she told me that I might get lost, and the only way she wouldn't be able to sniff me out was if I was miles away. So, she let me make up a game with a bunch of sticks and rocks.

We kept editing the game as we went along. She was always saying really creepy evil things, but there was always a long pause between them, as if she had to spend a few minutes coming up with every disturbing thing she could. I knew she was trying really hard to be scary, but it just didn't work because she wanted to play games with me and have fun. We played our little game for hours, and by the time we had both won it, we didn't even remember the rules we started with.

When Kyuuketsukimon showed up, she seemed a lot scarier than Chibikyuumon. Chibi, as she liked to be called, had made me go hide under her bed when Kyuuketsukimon came. I did as I was told, but Kyuu smelled me the second she got there. I don't think Kyuuketsukimon liked the fact that Chibikyuumon had kidnapped me. Chibi and Kyuu had a really big fight. They were both yelling about how stupid the other one was. Most of the stuff they shouted about involved me, Matt, and Tai. It was really scary, because they got so mad they started throwing fireballs at each other, and it took a long time before they calmed down.

When they finally told me I could come out, they both hugged me and told me how sorry they were, how stupid Chibi was for taking me. I told them that I didn't really mind much, because I felt lonely without my brother anyway, and the other Digidestined were always angry and sad after what happened. I just missed Patamon. Chibi told me I could hug her and depend on her until I was returned.

Oh, yeah- returning me. They said they wouldn't give me back. They said that it had gone too far for them to just give me back, that they had to go through with it. I was bait, and I knew it, but I didn't care. Kyuuketsukimon and Chibikyuumon were nice, and they only wanted Matt and Tai to come get me.

After the big fight, I was getting really sleepy, but Kyuuketsukimon wouldn't let me fall asleep without having something to eat, and Chibi made sure I stayed awake by constantly poking me and talking about how juicy I looked. It was almost funny, because we started talking about how they made juice. She was curious about why I would want to drink stuff that was sucked out of a broken off piece of a living thing, so I told her I was a plant vampire, and she didn't stop laughing for a long time.

After I ate a yummy dinner of fish-sticks and biscuits, I got to go to bed.

But once I was in bed, I couldn't sleep. I was too busy thinking. Sure, they were nice, but I got kidnapped by monsters to be bait. I still didn't understand why they wanted Matt and Tai so much. I really wanted to hug Patamon, or Gabumon. I know that, ever since that first night in Digiworld, Matt made Gabumon cuddle me to sleep and stay with me all night to keep me warm. Matt was always cold every night, because he would rather I be warm than him. My brother really does love me.

Thinking about Gabumon's soft fur made me miss my brother even more. I wanted to see his hair again, for some reason. I wanted to hug him and tell him that, even though the other Digidestined kicked him out, he was still my brother and I still wanted him to be my brother. When he was gone, Gabumon still held me at night, but it just wasn't the same. It was like being back on earth, when I wasn't allowed to see Matt very often, because we were stepbrothers and he was always with the OTHER parent. And, like our parents on earth, everybody around me didn't want us to know each other. Sora went so far as telling me that Matt wasn't my brother anymore. She said he was just a monster now, and that he would eat me just as soon as look at me.

She told me to run away if I saw him.

I told her to choke on a poisonous mushroom, and ran off to cry in the woods near the river. That's when Chibikyuumon found me and kidnapped me.

I know I fell asleep. When I woke up the next day, Chibi and Kyuu were both gone, and there was a note on the table telling me not to use the oven while they were gone. It also said that there were some boiled eggs in the bowl in the fridge, and some bread in the cupboard. The post script said the chains would get me if I tried to leave the cave.

But I didn't really want to leave the cave. I had a cozy bed, food, and shelter from bad Digimon. And soon enough, I would have Matt and Tai come to get me. I didn't want to wait, but I knew it would be worth it. So I waited.

And I'm still waiting. Where are you, Matt?


	20. StOp LoOkInG aT mE lIkE tHaT!

_**Once again, wishful thinking, dreaming of the day I finally beat the Digimon folks in a ches game and demand the right to Digimon... sigh**_

**_Cassy- Yes, mistress. -- I'll try harder to update this regularly._**

**_Xubose- Ha! I win! You SCOFF! Don't worry, Matt will GET his... but not in this chappie. Perhaps I will retunr to TK sometime._**_**

* * *

**__**CHAPTER TWENTY- Tai's P.O.V**_

Huh, boy. Once again, Matt proves his nonexistent skill in dealing with his brother.

Sure, sure, I'll recap AGAIN. We kissed that one time. Then we just sat around for a while, stewing in our own mental juices. Something about Matt was making me feel all dizzy and high- almost as if his skin was oozing THC or something! But I found it enjoyable. At some point, Matt got me something to eat.

And he even carried me to the river so I could get a drink. Perhaps this had something to do with my recent fascination with vampires, but the curve of his neck seemed very sexy at the time. I told him just how corny that was, and he shrugged, doing just the opposite of caring, because he knew how badly I needed water. Still, it's not every day somebody as generally cold as Matt carries somebody two miles off just to get a drink.

I've began to really like the night air a lot more than I used to. Ever since I watched the sunlight burn Matt, I haven't really enjoyed the sun as much as I used to. The sun truly does the same thing to us puny mortals that it does to vampires; only, slower. Maybe I just don't like the light as much as I used to, because having all these midnight conversations and conflicts has really made me appreciate how beautiful and awesome things can be when your eyes adjust to the darkness.

I was just lounging about with Matt after that, recovering my blood cells, when I remembered the thing about TK's hat, and reminded Matt that we had to go get the poor kid before Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon made a meal out of him. He shut me up with his mouth, quite nicely I might add, but I brought it up again and didn't let him change the subject. I just pressed in further on the subject until Matt finally broke down and hissed, "TK abandoned me, so why should we help him?" That was, unfortunately, what I expected.

"He's your brother," I reminded him.

"He's my _half_ brother," Matt corrected me. "And now that we're not the same species, he's already expressed how much he doesn't want to be related to me- by throwing us in the woods, remember?"

"Yes," I stated. I couldn't bite back my sarcasm. "Yes, I see your logic. Letting your brother get mutilated by the itsy bitsy vampire, and maybe even RAPED by the itchy bitchy sucker, is the absolute best way to patch up a broken family. Everybody knows that 'funeral' is just another way to say 'family reunion'. Especially since his mother and your father will skewer you and roast you alive if you let this happen- they'll bury you both in the same coffin, that should give you plenty of time to sort out your few remaining differences."

That shut him up. That shut him up good.

I wanted to give him a few minutes to digest that, so I leaned lightly against him. I was feeling a lot better than I had been earlier, happily re-growing blood cells and relishing in feeling less lethargic. Food and water definitely sped the healing process. I was really enjoying the night air. It felt so cool and it smelled so nice…

"I just don't want to leave you," I heard Matt mumble.

"Hmm?"

"If I go to get T.K, I'll have to leave you here. If I get in a fight with… _them_, I don't want to have to worry about you. You can't fight in this condition. You can hardly sit up right." He stopped glaring at his shoes and turned his slightly glowing red eyes onto my boring brown ones. "But I can't just leave you here, defenseless."

"Yeah, who knows how many Digimon will try to take a bite out of me?" I laughed, trying to lighten his mood but only causing him to scowl.

"I'm almost more worried about the other Digidestined."

"Why?"

"Idiot!" Matt hissed. For a moment, his eyes almost turned white. I could see his fangs as they jolted out, rather snakelike in their way. I shivered slightly, and not necessarily from fear. "I'm a vampire? I killed Mimi? I turned you against them and haven't rescued TK? Izzy, Joe, and Sora should be murderous by now. They might think I've turned you and try to stake you if they find you."

I nodded slowly. Both sides of that argument were valid, but somebody had to get TK away from that bloodthirsty midget-goth. Stay here, defenseless in a dangerous place, or get dragged bodily to an even more dangerous place and risk people's lives just by being there? Cause I would make a perfect distraction, if Chibikyuumon and Kyuuketsukimon wanted an extra hostage.

Matt groaned softly, leaning back to lie down in the grass on the river bank. He looked so serene, propping up his head on top of crossed hands. Sure, he was having a nasty internal struggle, and he was covered in blood. But with his chest not rising and falling the way mine did, he managed to hold extremely still, forcing me to imagine him as a marble statue wearing pants. No shirt, still. Gods… I closed my eyes and sighed, wanting to say something comforting, but knowing nothing to say.

Stupid Digidestined. Mimi had thought I was dead, but what would the others think? How long had I been alone with a hungry vampire named Matt- five, six days? I suppose it would only be reasonable to assume he'd done more than bite me. Heh… that bite. Another glance at Matt told me he had still not relaxed, and that his teeth still protruded from his gums like razorblades.

"I know a way," I said slowly, a grin sliding across my face. Matt's head tiled several inches in my direction, his piercing eyes having that classic 'uh-oh, Tai-is-plotting-something-again' look. Of course, as soon as he looked at me, I found a flaw in my plan, and groaned. "And, now I don't know a way. It's stupid. It would take too long."

"Let me guess…" Matt's suspenseful glare relaxed into a playful yet wicked grin. Suddenly, the voice that left his mouth wasn't his- it was mine. "Oh, Matt! Turn me! Please bite me, OH! Just there! That's so hot, oh Matt I love you, oh oh OH!" I flushed crimson as he laughed. I don't know whether I was mad or about to burst into laughter. Maybe both. Sure, he was making a mockery of my desires, but that pretty much summed them up. He was being so sarcastic! Oh, bite me, please.

"That's cold," I said eventually.

"Corpses generally are," Matt answered. He laughter died out slowly, and though the look he fixed me with was serious, I could tell he wasn't brooding on anything bad. "I'll consider it, since you seem to want it so damn badly. But not now. You need to get healthy and strong first, so it'll be at least another few days."

"Why do I have to be all healthy and strong first?" I demanded, wanting to pull off a dumb pout-ish pose, but feeling too tired. "Don't I die in the process anyway?"

"That's not the point!" Matt growled, running a hand through his soft blond hair. "I'm not going to make it any riskier than it has to be! If I _ever_ turn you into a vampire, you're going to be healthy and sane at the time, and that's final, and _stop looking at me like that!_" I almost ruined a perfect pout by laughing, but my will held firm. Matt shook his head, and my pathetic pout vanished with a fit of laughter as he looked away with pursed lips. I could tell easily that he would be blushing if he were still human.


End file.
